Balance (film)

Equilibrium is a 2002 American science fiction film directed by Kurt Wimmer and starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson and Taye Diggs.

Plot

Libria is a totalitarian city-state established by the survivors of World War III. In it, all emotions and the objects that stimulate them have been prohibited since they are seen as the cause of all the ills of humanity. Those who incur in the violation of this law are labeled as "Sensory offenders" and they are executed. In the same way, any object that is classified as material that stimulates emotions is destroyed without regard. The population suppresses their emotions with two daily injections of "Prozium II", a drug whose consumption is mandatory by law. Libria is governed by the Council of Tetragrammaton, which in turn is led by "Father" (Sean Pertwee), who only communicates through speech on giant video screens throughout the city. At the pinnacle of the Librian police are the Clergymen of Grammaton, trained in the martial art of Gun kata, a form of firearm and katana fighting born from the study of Statistical of the shot trajectories, thanks to this a cleric is able to hit, shoot and dodge maximizing the damage caused and minimizing the possibility of being knocked down. In parallel, a rebel movement has been born that refuses to give up their emotions and lives as refugees in the Abyss (Nethers), the ruins outside the city.

The story begins in 2072, John Preston (Christian Bale) is a high-ranking cleric who, along with his colleague Errol Partridge (Sean Bean), carries out a Raid in the Abyss. There he alone massacres a group of rebels entrenched in a building, after assassinating them they discover that they were protecting the Mona Lisa painting and other works of art, which Preston orders to be burned immediately. After finishing, he realizes that Partridge is keeping a book of Keats's poems instead of handing it over, as he explains, it is to personally take care of his cremation.

Upon his return, Preston is summoned by Deputy Counsel DuPont (Angus Macfadyen). John has always been recognized as a prodigy among the clerics not only for his unsurpassed fighting skill but also for possessing keen intuition that allows him to recognize offenders and predict their actions, however years ago Viviana (Maria Pia Calzone), his wife, was exposed as a sensory offender without his ever suspecting it, which DuPont currently reproaches him for. Seeking to prove his fidelity, Preston follows his intuition and investigates Partridge, discovering that he never turned in the book and every night he leaves town, after following him to an abandoned church Partridge explains that he gladly pays the high price of feeling emotions and Preston he executes it before his partner reaches his weapon.

The next morning Preston accidentally breaks his dose of Prozium while washing up, but is unable to get a replacement before heading to work, that morning cleric Andrew Brandt (Taye Diggs) takes over as his new colleague, he expresses admiration for the "uncompromising" of Preston as a cleric and reveals that he too possesses a keen intuition, desire to rise and be recognized. At the same time, Preston begins to experience brief episodes of emotions that evoke memories, awaken feelings, and make him more aware of his surroundings. In a raid, they arrest offender Mary O'Brien (Emily Watson), who arouses emotions in John despite his reluctance. To Brandt's surprise, Preston stops him from executing O'Brien, saying that she needs to be questioned, making him suspicious of John.

The next day Preston wakes up overwhelmed by Errol's death and decides to leave Prozium and experience his emotions. That day he and Brandt lead a raid on the Abyss, where John discovers that his emotions prevent him from realizing his potential as a fighter and that watching people die disturbs him. After finishing off the rebels, he again breaks down when he hears an old Beethoven record; As Preston reloads his and his partner's guns, his men begin to execute the rebels' dogs, the Librans don't understand the concept of pets, but the cleric can't help but save a pup that's friendly to him.

John tries to convince DuPont to allow him to arrest rather than execute the rebels under the excuse of being able to interrogate them, but when DuPont refuses, friction begins between the two. From here it becomes clear that not only Brandt, but also DuPont and Robbie (Matthew Harbour), John's eldest son, are suspicious of him, which is why he is so harassed in his work like his home. That night Preston goes out into the Abyss to free the puppy when he is intercepted by a patrol that discovers him and leaves him no choice but to kill them and return to his house with the dog. That night he creates a hiding place behind his bathroom mirror to store the doses he doesn't inject.

Brandt, determined to prove himself superior to John, begins taunting him by telling him about the patrol being killed in the Abyss and hinting that he knows who did it. That same day they lead a raid again, but John decides to help the rebels flee by secretly leading them and killing all the officers who discover it, however Brandt catches them pretending that everything was a trap so that the rebels would trust themselves; Although the cleric is willing to face his colleagues, the rebels do not allow it, considering John more valuable than themselves, so they are finally executed and the cleric saves his credibility. After returning to Libria, he asks DuPont to assign him the task of tracking down and capturing the resistance and using Errol's belongings as clues, he discovers that Mary was his girlfriend and also manages to locate the hideout of Jurgen (William Fichtner), leader of the resistance.

By connecting him to a polygraph, Jurgen verifies that Preston really has emotions and is not capable of controlling them, so he explains that although they are free to feel, they have to learn to inhibit them. He also asks her to join them and help them bring down the government by assassinating Father. When Preston asks Jurgen to save Mary, who is due to be executed the next day, Preston explains that they can't risk it and that having to decide on these kinds of sacrifices is one of the reasons they learn to inhibit their feelings. That day John reveals to Mary that he too is an offender and they spend the rest of the time together.

The next day Preston tries to avoid the execution, but does not arrive on time and as he leaves the court he is stopped by Brandt, who apprehends him, revealing to DuPont that he is the one who has been murdering the Tetragrammaton soldiers, arguing that the ballistic evidence will prove that they are the bullets from John's gun. Preston however accuses Brandt of being the culprit and the evidence supports him; Brandt, while being led to his execution, realizes that before sacrificing the rebels' dogs he was tricked by Preston into switching weapons.

Even so, since Preston has been formally charged, the law requires that his home be subjected to a search to clear him, this puts him in danger of being found where the mirror is hiding, however when he arrives at his house Robbie shows that he avoided being discovered, as he reveals, since his mother was alive, he and his sister also stopped injecting themselves.

That day Jurgen and John decide to carry out a plan where the cleric will hand over Jurgen and his men to receive an audience with the Father as a prize and have the opportunity to assassinate him, once Libria loses its leader, the rest of the resistance will attack the city and destroy the manufacturing and distribution centers of Prozium. With the city without a government or medicine the people will be able to feel again and their human nature will dominate them before order can be restored.

After apprehending Jurgen, Preston shows up for his meeting only to discover he must first take a polygraph to prove he's not an offender. Once connected and it being evident that he can feel, Brandt introduces himself, revealing that everything has been a plan orchestrated by DuPont; years ago the Father passed away and the Vice Councilor was named his successor, adopting through digital editions the appearance of the Father in his transmissions. DuPont explains that everything from the beginning has been a plan to create a perfect infiltrator by turning him into an offender and thus making the resistance surrender.

Preston, furious at being deceived, focuses on completely shutting down his emotions and thus regaining his full potential as a cleric, slaughtering everyone who tries to stop him from reaching the DuPont office, once inside it becomes clear that both he and Brandt do not take Prozium; The latter is very confident that he can finish off his opponent in a duel of katanas, but John only needs a movement of his blade to remove his pistols and decapitate him. After this DuPont confronts him in a gun fight where after a couple fight Preston disarms him and DuPont pleads for his life asking: "Is it really worth the price?" repeating Partridge's last words Preston retorts "I pay it gladly" and runs to DuPont.

Preston continues to advance until he destroys the Tetragammaton communications center, taking the Father's transmissions off the air, and starting the revolution by destroying the Prozium manufacturing facility and the Librian army. The story ends with John looking out a window and giving himself the first chance to smile.

Cast

• Christian Bale as clergyman John Preston.
• Sean Bean like Errol Partridge.
• Emily Watson as Mary O'Brien.
• Taye Diggs like Andrew Brandt.
• Angus Macfadyen as Vice Counselor DuPont.
• Sean Pertwee as The Father.
• William Fichtner as Jurgen.
• Emily Siewert as Lisa Preston.
• Matthew Harbour like Robbie Preston.
• Maria Pia Calzone as Viviana Preston.
• Dominic Purcell like Seamus.
• Mehmet Kurtulus as the search coordinator.