The future setting of Demolition Man seems ludicrous at first, but certain predictions like the touchless high five are more accurate than expected.

Real life is now one handshake closer to the future shown inDemolition Man. The 1993 sci-fi action filmfollows John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), a gruff and tough police officer awakened from cryosleep in the utopian San Angeles of 2032 after being convicted for blowing up the building where a group of hostages were held byterrorist Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) 36 years prior. His mission isto recapture the criminal in a city governed by strict puritan laws where the police force is unfamiliar with threats bigger than profane language andinnocuousdeeds.

Some of these "crimes" arerecited to Spartan byLieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) the moment he wakes up: cigarettes, alcohol, meat, caffeine, contact sports, cursing, and even intimate contact are all banned by law. Thisidealistic society isconcocted byDr. Raymond Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne), the man who led the city to seek an aseptic approach to life. Unfortunately for him, his plan to eliminate the last underground resistance to his pristine utopia goes off the rails when Huxley and Spartan figure out his intentions, on top of losing control of the pawn he brought from the past to achieve it Simon Phoenix.

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Not all of the crimes predicted byDemolition Manseem too egregious now, though, 27 years after the film's release. When Huxley first arrives at the police department building, she greetstwo police officers with a quick circular hand motion, similar to an incomplete high five. The salute is carried out so casually that it's obvious it has replaced the handshake. Minutes later, when Huxley remotely locates Phoenix after his escape, officer Erwin (Rob Schneider) exchanges the same gesture with fellow officer Alfredo Garca (Benjamin Bratt) as a sign of celebration.

This non-touchhandshake is a result of the future's aversion tophysical contact. When Huxley wants to get intimate with Spartan and surprises him with the concept of "VR sex," she explains to him that"the rampant exchange of bodily fluids was one of the main major reasons for the downfall of society."So, it is implied that besides the fictional "GreatEarthquake" of 2010 the spread of illnessdrastically changed society in the early twenty-first century,resulting ina statewide (and presumably worldwide) restructuring. Just 12 years before the film's setting, the real-life coronavirus pandemic is driving out acts of physical contact like handshakes and high fives due to their high transmission rate of infection.

Demolition Mancontinues the tradition of the many '80s sci-fi films that has successfully predictedthe future in some way or another. FromArnold Schwarzenegger getting into politics to smoke-free laws, the movie accurately picked up some clues of the era toportray real-life events.Now that the film'ssetting is getting closer, and with a Demolition Mansequel in the works,anewnotion of the future will bring more interesting predictions that may set a fictional precedentfor what lies ahead.

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Nicolas Ayala is a screenwriter, photographer, and model with a passion for blockbusters and big-screen adaptations. He's been writing movies since he got his first crayon and continues to do so in his final year of Film Production at university. An extensive immersion in the behind-the-scenes of a couple dozen projects has let him see films in a new light and talk about his experiences around the web. When not writing or dreaming about writing, he's probably cosplaying, directing goofy films, creating comic books, studying ancient mythology, learning new languages or producing music that your hips can't stop dancing to.

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Demolition Man's Handshake Explained: How It Predicted The Future - Screen Rant