The Great Depression could be described in many ways and one of those is surely dystopian. In the prairie states, for example, drought added to the economic woes in a great ecological disaster called The Dust Bowl. Many farmers were forced to abandon their land and move somewhere else, a few famously to California (see Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath for a look at that immigration situation).

Jeff Nichols, the director of two films with dark fantasy elements, Take Shelter and Midnight Special, is slated to make a film in spring 2025 about a new depression that he claimed in a recent interview will involve not only economic upheaval and ecological problems — but also aliens.

“It says everything I want to say about humanity and the universe. It’s a big film. It’s got a big scope to it and a big heart to it. Believe it or not, it’s a film with aliens in it. But it takes place in Arkansas, and it feels like a movie made by the guy who made Mud, and it just happens to have aliens in it.” 

The current title of the film is Land of Opportunity and early reports are that it will be  a “‘dystopian story’ set in Arkansas, about a new Great Depression where oil has run out and the dollar has collapsed.” 

No more oil and worthless dollars is a setup for some sort of dystopia. I especially enjoyed Nichols’ Take Shelter, which had a wigged-out Michael Shannon not knowing if he is really seeing signs of the apocalypse or is just losing his mind. So perhaps Nichols will produce another paranoid masterpiece. 

The role of of the aliens isn’t highlighted, but perhaps with the dollar going down the drain they will swoop into Little Rock for yard sale bargains on tricked-out F-150s and Barrett 50 cals.