Is there anything creepier than a society of happy people?
2. No one is happy
Conversely, if you're surrounded by miserable sacks wearing gray and shuffling through life, you're either a zombie in a horror flick or trapped in a dystopia.
3. You can go anywhere, except to __.
We all know why it's forbidden. The secret undermining the whole society is hidden there.
4. No one wants change
People always want to change things: they want more money, more power, more time to play video games. If no one around you wants anything to change, you're trapped in a dystopia.
5. No one knows what a dystopia is
People in dystopias don't read. They don't have any idea they're trapped in someone's nightmare future. If even one person has read 1984, you're not in a dystopia, just a gritty sci fi novel.
