Society (1989)
The rich have always fed off the poor. This time, it's for real.
Bill Whitney is worried that he is different to his sister and parents. They mix with other upper-class people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. All is revealed when Bill returns home to find a party in full swing.
In Society, consciousness is carried by monsters and creatures — a plane of “shunting elite”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing class, exploitation, identity, body, fear.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)E8/E9 · class, exploitation
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)E8/E9 · fear, identity
Wish Dragon (2021)E8/E9 · class, identity
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)E8/E9 · fear, identity
The Smurfs 2 (2013)E8/E9 · exploitation, identity
Labyrinth (1986)E8/E9 · fear, identitySame subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Also bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
The Island (2005)alters at E6 · same rung · loose
Luca (2021)alters at E6 · same rung · loose
Mickey 17 (2025)alters at E6 · same rung · loose
Moon (2009)alters at E6 · same rung · loose
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)alters at E6 · same rung · loose
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)alters at E6 · same rung · looseAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Monsters University (2013)consciousness in monsters · monster university
Minions (2015)consciousness in monsters · minion quest
Aladdin (2019)consciousness in monsters · magical desert kingdom
Shrek (2001)consciousness in monsters · fairy‑tale swamp
The Watchers (2024)consciousness in monsters · fairy forest bunker
The Boxtrolls (2014)consciousness in monsters · box‑troll undercitySame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Freejack (1992)consciousness in machines · class, exploitation
Aladdin (1992)consciousness carried elsewhere · class, identity
Shrek 2 (2004)consciousness in animals · class, identity
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)consciousness in machines · class, identity
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)consciousness in animals · fear, identity
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)consciousness in aliens · fear, identity
