Cultural Anxiety

Liminal Cinema: How Sci-Fi Visualizes Our Collective Uncertainty

How contemporary science fiction is increasingly drawn to liminal spaces—abandoned malls, empty corridors, minimalist environments—that symbolize transitional states and collective unease. Rather than depicting clear dystopias or utopias, today’s sci-fi inhabits the in-between, reflecting modern anxieties around identity, technology, climate change, and societal flux.

How contemporary science fiction is increasingly drawn to liminal spaces—abandoned malls, empty corridors, minimalist environments—that symbolize transitional states and collective unease. Rather than depicting clear dystopias or utopias, today’s sci-fi inhabits the in-between, reflecting modern anxieties around identity, technology, climate change, and societal flux.