The dystopian thriller V for Vendetta , based on the graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd, is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary with a special theatrical re-release . But it still proves chilling today because of how familiar so many of its most disturbing moments feel.

It’s something director James McTeigue acknowledges in a new interview with Consequence : “The tools of any government that leans authoritarian are the same. The things that Alan Moore discussed during the Thatcherite period, we discussed during the Bush period, and you could discuss now. The fear of otherness, the endless war, the fear of immigration. All the things that are in [ V for Vendetta ] are happening at this moment. You can watch the movie then, and you can watch it now, and it’s completely resonant to what is happening.”

As fans of the source material, the Wachowskis first began writing the script for V for Vendetta in the 1990s, prior to the smash success of The Matrix .…