Theme: After the Holocaust

After the Holocaust, Post-Holocaust or Post-Apocalyptic Films refer to works that depict survival in the aftermath of the collapse of civilisation.

This is most commonly seen as being caused by worldwide nuclear war. Other works are set in the aftermath of pandemics, while more recent years have popularised the zombie holocaust and global warming/environmentally devastation scenarios, while many other works take place after an unspecified apocalypse.

The genre began as long ago as the silent era but was popularised in the 1950s. The 1980s and the success of Mad Max 2 (1981) brought a large outpouring of action films that took place in the post-holocaust venue. The 2000s saw the move away from action towards a focus on harsh survivalism.

This refers to films that take place in the aftermath of social collapse. For works that depict the collapse and its immediate aftermath see Nuclear War, Plague and Pandemic and Catastrophe.