(Credits: 20th Century Fox)

If you too have been scrolling Netflix lately and spotted a strange 2000s film called Idiocracy in the Top 10 list, you are not alone in wondering how that happened.

It has been almost twenty years since the movie first came out, and without much hype. But somehow, Idiocracy has found new life as it’s ranking at number nine on Netflix US, and honestly, it feels more relevant now than when it was released.

Directed by Mike Judge, the genius behind Office Space and Beavis and Butt-Head, the movie starts with an average guy named Joe Bauers, played by Luke Wilson. He gets chosen for a secret hibernation experiment that accidentally goes on way too long. When he wakes up 500 years later, humanity has completely lost the plot. The world he walks into is loud and too lazy. But most importantly, it is run by people who think electrolytes can solve everything.

This isn’t the shiny or futuristic kind of sci-fi. Idiocracy imagines a world where technology hasn’t advanced much. It is a place where people just got dumber and the brands got louder (sounds a lot like what’s happening today). Crops are watered with energy drinks, the president is a former pro wrestler, and society runs on slogans. It’s ridiculous in every frame, but somehow it hits close to home in the age of social media and viral nonsense.

When it premiered in 2006, the movie wasn’t exactly a blockbuster. The studio barely promoted it, and audiences didn’t know what to do with its strange, scrappy tone. Over time, though, it quietly grew into a cult favourite. Fans started quoting its wild lines, professors used it in lectures, and every few years, someone rediscovers it and says, “Wait… was this supposed to be funny or prophetic?”

That’s the secret behind Idiocracy’s comeback. It doesn’t rely on highbrow humour or clever twists. It is funny because it exaggerates things we already recognise. The jokes land harder now, partly because the world has caught up to them and they are more relevant and relatable today. Watching it in 2025 feels like scrolling through your feed on a bad day.

The cast makes it even better. Maya Rudolph plays Rita, a quick-thinking woman who might be the only normal person left. Dax Shepard steals scenes as Joe’s roommate. He is a future-dweller who is somehow both friendly and hopeless. And Terry Crews is unforgettable as President Camacho, a leader with big muscles and even bigger speeches, who’s both terrifying and weirdly charismatic.

There is a reason Idiocracy keeps popping back up whenever the internet gets too loud or politics get too strange. It’s not trying to predict the future… It’s just holding up a very exaggerated mirror. The joke isn’t that people are dumb; it’s that we might already be halfway there.

So if you need something that’ll make you laugh while realising that’s the kind of world we are moving towards, this is your pick. It’s the kind of movie that starts as a comedy and ends as a conversation. And right now, Netflix viewers can’t seem to look away.