Some films fade into irrelevance, relics of their era. Others, strangely enough, seem to ripen with time. Their commentary, once sharp, only gets sharper. Today I thought I’d look at a few that I think have aged incredibly well: movies that may be even more relevant now than when they first came out.
Falling Down (1993)
Michael Douglas plays William Foster, an unemployed defense worker who one day simply snaps. Stuck in traffic on a sweltering Los Angeles day, he abandons his car and begins a slow-burn rampage across the city.
What makes Falling Down feel so contemporary is its theme of frustration in a world that no longer seems to make sense. Foster is both sympathetic and terrifying: a man crushed by an economic system and yet lashing out in ways that make him no hero. Watching today, it feels like a dark mirror to the modern “quiet quitting” or burnout culture. Well... except Foster doesn’t stay quiet.
It’s unsettling precisely because it’s so easy to see fragments of ourselves, our neighbors, or headlines in him.
There's one line that sticks with me. "I'm overeducated, underskilled — maybe it's the other way around. I forget — but I'm obsolete. I'm not economically viable. I can't even support my own kid."
Let's be clear: Douglas's character clearly has psychological issues. There is no forgiving what he does. But the issues that trigger him on rampage — they are even more recognizable today than in 1993 when this was released. Absoultely worth rewatching.
Office Space (1999)
At the other end of the spectrum is Office Space, a comedy that nailed the absurdity of corporate life before memes about “TPS reports” or “work-life balance” ever hit the internet. White-collar office work is its own special brand of madness. Unlike blue-collar jobs with clear starts and finishes, office work feels endless and cyclical—an infinite loop of pointless tasks that slowly drives people insane.
The genius of Mike Judge’s film is how universal the drudgery feels: meaningless tasks, soulless bosses, malfunctioning printers, and a creeping sense that your job is stealing your life. In the 90s this was hilarious satire. In the era of Zoom meetings, Slack pings, and “return to office” battles, it feels prophetic.
It’s comfort food cinema for anyone who has ever stared blankly at a spreadsheet and thought, “Is this really it?”
And of course, let’s not forget Milton’s immortal line: “That’s my stapler.”
Network (1976)
For a third, I’d suggest Network. Sidney Lumet’s film is nearly fifty years old now, yet it might as well have been made yesterday. It tells the story of a news anchor who, in a fit of existential despair, announces on live TV that he is “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore”—sparking a media frenzy that executives happily exploit.
Back in 1976, it was biting satire of the television industry. Today, in the age of cable news outrage cycles, viral clips, and algorithm-driven attention economies, it reads like documentary. Network didn’t just age well—it predicted the future.
Fight Club (1999)
When Fight Club first hit theaters, most people latched onto the surface: bare-knuckle brawls, soap made from fat, and an underground brotherhood. The violence became its symbol, but that was only the mask. Even the split between Edward Norton and the ghostly Brad Pitt was more distraction than essence.
At its core, the film was about Generation X’s existential drift—the anger of growing up promised fulfillment, stability, and meaning, only to find none of it waiting. It captured the feeling of being unmoored, of realizing consumer culture wasn’t a replacement for purpose.
If anything, the movie has aged into a warning: when disillusion has nowhere to go, it festers into something darker.
So those are my picks: one dark descent, one workplace comedy, one prophetic satire, and one generation howl (or cry for help). Each feels disturbingly relevant in 2025, perhaps more than in their own release years.
What movies would you add to this list?
❦
 |
David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |
Posted using CineTV