Set during the decadent tail end of the Age of Enlightenment, the Oscar-nominated French film Ridicule portrays a society that has seen the lofty ideals of its inception corrupted to the point of self-destruction. The movie follows a young nobleman who travels to Versailles to seek funds in an effort to prevent his impoverished peasants from dropping like flies. Once there, he enters a world where cutting remarks serve to establish dominance among the wealthy the way noisy displays of strength do among chimpanzees. Ridicule convincingly establishes a sense of dread that comes with living in constant fear of public humiliation. And, though it's set in the past, its depiction of wealth-bloated politicians who maintain a wide gulf between actions and rhetoric seems timeless.