
In the distant technological future, civilization has reached its ultimate Net-based form. An "infection" in the past caused the automated systems to spiral out of order, resulting in a multi-leveled city structure that replicates itself infinitely in all directions. Now humanity has lost access to the city's controls, and is hunted down and purged by the defense system known as the Safeguard. In a tiny corner of the city, a little enclave known as the Electro-Fishers is facing eventual extinction, trapped between the threat of the Safeguard and dwindling food supplies. A girl named Zuru goes
In BLAME!, consciousness is carried by machines — a plane of “net-city dystopia”. The story fights on E8/E9/E13 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing technology, control, survival, authority, exploitation.
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Pixels (2015)E8/E13 · rare rung · survival, technology
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)E8/E13 · rare rung · control, technology
Alien: Covenant (2017)E8/E13 · rare rung · survival, technology
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)E8/E13 · rare rung · survival, technology
The Flood (2023)E8/E13 · rare rung · survival, technology
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (2013)E13 · rare rung · authority, survivalThe same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Roger & Me (1989)E7/E10 · rare rung · authority, exploitation
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)E7/E10 · rare rung · survival, technology
WarGames (1983)E12/E14 · rare rung · authority, control
Pacific Rim (2013)E11/E14 · rare rung · survival, technology
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)E12/E14 · rare rung · authority, technology
Restart the Earth (2021)E10/E14 · rare rung · survival, technologyOther films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
Vesper (2022)alters at E4 · same rung · loose
Species III (2005)alters at E4 · same rung · loose
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)alters at E4 · same rung · loose
Ultraviolet (2006)alters at E4 · same rung · loose
Species (1995)alters at E4 · same rung · loose
Morgan (2016)alters at E4 · same rung · looseOther films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
I Am Mother (2019)consciousness in machines · post‑apocalypse bunker
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025)consciousness in machines · AI nuclear apocalypse
Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)consciousness in machines · AI uprising
Automata (2014)consciousness in machines · post‑apocalyptic robot city
Bigbug (2022)consciousness in machines · smart‑home dystopia
The Matrix (1999)consciousness in machines · simulated realityThe same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Colony (2026)consciousness in monsters · authority, control
Justice League: Warworld (2023)consciousness in aliens · authority, control
Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)consciousness in monsters · control, survival
Flushed Away (2006)consciousness in animals · authority, survival
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)consciousness in aliens · exploitation, survival
Gantz (2010)consciousness in the dead · control, survivalShared director or cast.