In the context of current debates about AI and inequality, Blade Runner 2046, a new sci-fi movie by one of my favorite directors Denis Villeneuve has special resonance. The film is set roughly 20 years from now, in an environmental catastrophe where most animal and plant life has been destoyed, where life is bleak and brutal for a large human underclass, and bioengineered "replicants" who have no empathy work as slaves. An extrapolation of some current debates about the future of technology. Villeneuve's movies are typically intelligent thrillers about identity. His plots unfold with subtle clues. This one has a thinner plot, gorgeously lit images, mostly horrible people, and not much character development. It is carried by an overall feeling of mystery and dread.

There are still pages left in this story. Watch the NEW trailer for #BladeRunner2049, in theaters October 6. -- Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos.