WHY YOU SHOULD CARE The ruined Earth is a familiar trope in science fiction, which is no surprise given how it plays on our worst fears and the suspicion that the way we live now can’t last forever. It’s also generally easy for filmmakers to create, too: just head to some remote, godforsaken corner of the globe (Milton Keynes, say), burn a few cars and Bob’s your uncle. So in that sense Elysium shouldn’t be any great shakes. But on the other hand, this is Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to District 9, so we’re expecting something a little more inventive than your average.

Apart from anything else, Blomkamp’s Comic-Con presentation made it clear that this is a timely tale about the 99 percent having to live in the detritus left by the 1 percent, who in this story literally consider themselves above the rest of the world on floating cities. Matt Damon’s Max suffers radiation poisoning and is told he’ll die – but, convinced that there is treatment available in the cities above, takes an Elysium’s identity in an effort to find a cure. The only problem then is that the life he assumes comes with its own complications.

The little released so far all points to a sci-fi that deals with similar themes to District 9, but writ larger and more extreme. The very lack of aliens and outsiders should help make Blomkamp’s point, and do what sci-fi does best: make big points about the way we live now.

SEE ALSO Last year’s admittedly unsubtle In Time, or – much better – Metropolis. There’s a reason it’s a classic.