The post-apocalyptic expiration date

I’ve been compiling a list of post-apocalyptic movies for the past five years. I started the list because similar lists online are cluttered with movies I don’t consider post-apocalyptic.
Many of those lists include movies about dystopian futures that take place after catastrophic events, but civilization has recovered and rebuilt. “The Hunger Games” series is a good example.
Post-apocalyptic periods can have an end date, writer JJ Shurte argued in an article on Post Apocalyptic Media. For instance, the Black Death in 14th Century Europe must have seemed like an apocalyptic event, but the region eventually recovered.
“Paris got hammered by the Black Death back in the 14th century, but it’s had time to heal,” Shurte wrote. “Not many people would consider modern day Paris to be post-apocalyptic.”
Yesterday I did a review of my list of post-apocalyptic movies and culled a bunch of movies about dystopian futures that take place after apocalyptic events. Movies cut from my list include “Logan’s Run” (1976), “Aeon Flux” (2005), “Dredd” (2012) and the “Divergent” series. I ended up deleting over 30 movies from the list.
A true post-apocalyptic movie depicts the struggle of people to survive following a major devastation. It must show a hardscrabble life where finding food, shelter and safety are the norm.

Related reading:

Comprehensive list of post-apocalyptic movies

Photos: Posters from “Here Alone” (2017) and “Into the Forest” (2016)