Battle royale shows a dystopia for high school students. A group of young teenagers are taken away from their daily lives to be placed in a competition. They are told they are going on a field trip but end up being knocked out and held against their will. This is because there was a new law implemented that they had to fight to their death. In this competition, they all will kill each other off until one is left standing. This aspect makes the movie a dystopia. The government puts these children in inhumane, life-ending conditions.
These conditions forced the children to turn to savagery. They had to turn against their friends just to stay alive. Many of them were killing others and many were killed. Some kids couldn’t handle the pressure and committed suicide. We can see at the beginning of the movie, the girl left standing was covered in blood while smiling. This shows the harsh conditions she had to go through but, also shows that she was strong enough mentally to not be traumatized by the situation.
Other aspects of dystopia in the movie include the shock collar that they had to wear. The collar tracked their heart rate and location. They were made to wear these because it allowed the adults who controlled the game to keep up with them during the battle. Any time they were out of the boundaries, they could be killed. Any time they were doing something they weren’t supposed to do, they were killed. Also, if they tried to run away or remove the collar they could be killed.
It was interesting to me to see that even in these conditions the teenagers still did what most teenagers did in a normal society. They were heavily focused on relationships, sex, and crushes. Even in life-threatening circumstances, they were able to maintain their human nature and urges.
