John is the best of the best, a fighter against the forces of feeling. After World War III left the world in ruins, the new world order, led by "Father," a Big Brother figure seen on building-sized monitors all over the world, has outlawed all emotions. With hate, rage, jealousy, etc. banished, war is no longer possible. To insure that everyone is taking their meds, the Clerics, like the Pre-Crime units in MINORITY REPORT, kill those who resist. John's own wife was a "sense offender" who was sentenced to "summary combustion." He lives now with his young son, who acts like an overeager member of the Hitler youth, and his young daughter, who displays an almost undetectable hint of her mother's humanity.

As John goes about his work, destroying contraband from the Mona Lisa to puppies, he meets and arrests an unabashed sense offender named Mary O'Brian (Emily Watson). Although it looks briefly like their relationship will become central to the story, the movie ends up revolving completely around Bale's character, which turns out to be a good thing. Bale is perfectly cast as an automaton whose veneer is rapidly cracking.

One day, John skips his mind-altering drug, and his life is forever changed. Rather than attempting to be Father's right-hand man in suppressing the underground, he begins to fight for it. Bale makes the unfathomable fathomable. By the end, you'll be rooting for him in what is, on the surface, a preposterous sci-fi story. But Bale makes it all frighteningly real. And lots of fun.

EQUILIBRIUM runs 1:47. It is rated R for "violence" and would be acceptable for teenagers.