The Funniest Sci-Fi Movie Ever Made Is Waiting To Be Rediscovered On Netflix

In the year 2025, it's easy to feel like a lot of stuff is just ... stupid, right? If you're looking for a hilarious science fiction movie that depicts a very stupid world that also happens to be fictional, give "Idiocracy" a try — it's on Netflix now, and it's unsettlingly funny.

We'll back up. "Idiocracy," a movie written by Etan Cohen alongside director and talented satirist Mike Judge (which was also based on a story conceived by Cohen himself), released in 2006 — and while the plot of the movie is plenty fascinating, there was also some truly bizarre stuff going on behind the scenes with this particular film. Presumably because the movie unabashedly lampoons capitalism and corporations, the studio, 20th Century Fox, sure seemed shy about ensuring that the movie got a wide release or even any decent promotion. "Idiocracy" notably wasn't screened for critics (which is, in and of itself, absolutely insane), and in 2018, star Terry Crews, who plays the movie's in-universe United States president, said that he believed it was an issue with corporations and how they were portrayed. 

"The rumor was is that because we used real corporations in our comedy," Crews said in a GQ career retrospective, regarding both the film's weird rollout and its ultimate failure at the box office. "And so Fox who owned the movie decided, 'we are going to release this in as few theaters as legally possible.' So it got a release in probably three theaters over one weekend and it was sucked out into the vortex." (Crews isn't being literal here, but he's generally right.)

Thankfully, "Idiocracy" became a cult classic years after its release — and again, you can catch it on Netflix. So what happens in this movie.

Let's talk about what actually happens in "Idiocracy" now that we've been over the film's famously troubled release. We first meet Corporal Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) in the year 2005, where he's selected as the most average guy in the entire military (unflattering, to be sure) and placed in a suspended animation sequence, basically meaning he'll be frozen in time. Because he needs a female companion, Rita (Maya Rudolph), a sex worker, is essentially kidnapped and put into suspended animation with Joe. Unbeknownst to both of them, petty squabbling at the facility where Joe and Rita are, for lack of a better term, stored leads to the closure of the military base, and everyone forgets about the pair ... until 500 years pass, and the two wake up in a disheleved Washington D.C. in 2505 (they're only even roused because something called a "garbage avalanche" literally shakes them out of the suspended animation). 

Awake and horrified at what the world has become — a world that prioritizes and centers its dumbest citizens — Joe and Rita team up with idiot Frito Pendejo (Dax Shephard) after they accidentally arise from the "dead" in his apartment. Though Joe accidentally runs afoul of authorities, an incredible score on an aptitude tests captures the attention of this world's president, Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews). Still, Joe is determined to stop the "dumbing-down" of all humanity and, using a time machine, is able to at least reverse course away from this unsettling future ... although it should be said that a president constantly noting that the White House is sponsored by fast food chain Carl's Jr. does feel feasible in 2025.

Part of the reason that the bizarre rollout of "Idiocracy" was so confusing for frequent moviegoers is because director Mike Judge was already a confirmed box office draw at this point — thanks in large part to the success of his biting workplace comedy "Office Space." In 1999, the film — written and directed by Judge and also released by 20th Century Fox — hit theaters and became a modest box office success but, more importantly, earned its place in cinematic history as one of the greatest and most honest movies about dead-end jobs.

Our entry into the world of "Office Space" is Peter Gibbons (a spectacularly well-cast Ron Livingston), who works an unsatisfying and even infuriating job as a programmer at a fictional company called Initech alongside his two friends Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu) and Michael Bolton (David Herman). After Peter goes to see a hypnotherapist with his controlling girlfriend Anne (Alexandra Wentworth) and watches the therapist die in front of him, he realizes precisely how futile and stupid his days at Initech are. Not only does he start acting out at work — aggravating his boss Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole) and weirdly impressing the two Bobs (John C. McGinley and Paul Willson) who are brought in to downsize Initech, but Peter, Samir, and Michael even come up with a plan to steal money from the company so they can finally quit. Oh, and along the way, Peter strikes up a romantic connection with local waitress Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), and while all of this is happening, poor Milton Waddams (venerated character actor Stephen Root) really, really wants his stapler back.

If you love "Office Space," definitely check out "Idiocracy" on Netflix — and ignore any eerie real-life parallels, if you can.