Elysium (2013)

Most people think so. 77% of audiences gave it a thumbs up, by Google's archived audience score. Critics gave it 62%.

In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds. Wikipedia ↗

Elysium is a 2013 American dystopian science fiction action film written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. Set in 2154, the film depicts a world where the wealthy live on Elysium, a luxurious space station orbiting Earth equipped with medical bays that can cure any disease or injury, while the remaining population lives in squalor on an overpopulated, polluted planet. Matt Damon stars as Max Da Costa, a former car thief now working in a factory in Los Angeles who is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and has five days to reach Elysium's med-bays.

To get there, Max undergoes a procedure that bolts a powered exoskeleton to his body and agrees to steal valuable data from a billionaire's brain — data that could grant all of Earth's citizens access to Elysium. Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to District 9 wore its political allegory openly — Elysium was an unsubtle metaphor for immigration, healthcare inequality, and the growing divide between the global rich and poor. Sharlto Copley's Kruger, a psychopathic mercenary employed by Elysium's defense secretary played by Jodie Foster, was a memorably unhinged villain.

The production design of both the gleaming space station and the dusty, overcrowded Earth were detailed and immersive. Elysium earned $286 million worldwide on a $115 million budget.