Social science fiction

External videos
video icon Sumer- A short social science fiction film.

Social science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, usually (but not necessarily) soft science fiction, concerned less with technology or space opera and more with speculation about society. In other words, it "absorbs and discusses anthropology" and speculates about human behavior and interactions.[1]

Exploration of fictional societies is a significant aspect of science fiction, allowing it to perform predictive (The Time Machine, 1895; The Final Circle of Paradise, 1965) and precautionary (Brave New World, 1932; Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949; Childhood's End, Fahrenheit 451, 1953) functions, to criticize the contemporary world (Gulliver's Travels, 1726; the works of Alexander Gromov, 1995–present) and to present solutions (Walden Two, Freedom™), to portray alternative societies (World of the Noon) and to examine the implications of ethical principles, as for example in the works of Sergei Lukyanenko.[1] More contemporary examples include The Lobster (2015), directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, and The Platform (2019).