Sci-Fi's Most Brutal Caste Systems

In futuristic stories like "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Divergent," it's not a dystopian society unless humanity is splintered--by money, status, talent or duty. These splits are often orhcestrated by a larger power. In these page-turners, to deviate from one's caste means exile or death. Neill Blomkamp's new science-fiction adventure "Elysium" (out this week) presents a future in which humanity is starkly separated into the haves and have-nots. The rich live in the titular space station Elysium, with technology that can cure even terminal cancer. Max (Matt Damon) is one of the majority of humans eking out a hardscrabble existence on a burnt-out Earth. When he suffers a near-fatal accident, he must infiltrate Elysium to find the cure--and tear down the caste system in the process.