Z.P.G. (1972)
Directed by Michael Campus, Z.P.G. (Zero Population Growth) is inspired by the novel The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich. It deals with a planet Earth in the future that is polluted so badly that people need to wear breathing masks when outside. Also overpopulation has resulted in the world government executing a 30-year ban on having children. Those who break the ban are given the death penalty by being placed under a plastic dome and suffocated to death. The void of a child is met by couples of child-bearing age visiting “Babyland” where they are given a life-size animatronic child instead.
As the film begins we meet Russ (Oliver Reed) and Carol McNeil (Geraldine Chaplin), a married couple who work in a museum recreating life in the 20th century. Carol is desperate for a child and when she conceives she avoids the abortion machine installed in their bathroom to remain pregnant. Following the birth of the child, the McNeil’s work hard to conceal the baby. The baby soon leads to jealousy between the McNeil’s and their neighbours George (Don Gordon) and Edna Borden (Diane Cilento) which in turn puts all three of the McNeil family’s lives in danger!