Equilibrium (2002)Written and Directed by Kurt Wimmer
Reviewed by Troy Whiteley
Imagine a world with no emotion. All hate, anger, war, sickness, and pain eliminated. Sounds like it would be pretty good, doesn’t it? That is the futuristic world we enter in Equilibrium, written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. In order to preserve the society of Libria, a warrior enforcement group called the Grammaton Clerics must eliminate all those who feel emotion. John Preston (Christian Bale) is their top enforcer.
The movie opens with “Father,” the leader of Libria, describing how this society came into existence after a third world war. His voice is juxtaposed with images of nuclear explosions and leaders like Stalin and Saddam Hussein. “Father” then goes on describes the Grammaton Clerics as the answer to combating the destructive emotions that led to this apocalypse: through ruthless suppression. If you have read books like The Giver by Lois Lowry or have seen The Matrix Trilogy, Equilibrium has elements from these stories that make it compelling to watch.
For the citizens to repress their emotions, they must take a regular injection of “prozium,” a drug that suppresses the part of the human brain that causes erratic emotion. Scenes of crowds stopping at the stroke of a clock to inject themselves--or else be condemned to incineration--show just how much control the leaders have over the society.
John Preston (Bale), the highest-ranking member of the Grammaton Cleric, is on the hunt to destroy objects and people who might otherwise ruin society. Preston and his partner Errol Partridge (Sean Bean) encounter a group of “feelers,” and show why the Grammaton Clerics are feared by everyone. Wielding two specially made hand-guns, Preston takes out a whole slew of insurgents without taking a single step. The gun-kata, as it is referred to, is the art of knowing mathematically and statistically where an enemy will be at any given moment and knowing the most effective way to eliminate each one. It is an impressive lethal display of dominance.
After the encounter, Preston discovers that Partridge has been “feeling.” Preston has to kill Partridge, and shoots him in the head-- but the act leaves him “feeling” himself, overwhelmed by having gunned down his friend and partner. Preston is assigned a new cleric, Brandt (Taye Diggs), as a replacement partner, who seems eager to work with Preston--it will make his career.
This is the beginning of Preston’s journey to discover his humanity. Battling the guilt of killing Partridge, Preston wakes up and gets ready for work. As he does, he accidently drops his morning dosage of prozium. Deciding not to take another dosage, Preston begins to feel. It’s the start of his descent into the “madness” of emotion--but rather than sad or terrifying, it is beautiful as he discovers with each passing moment the subtleties of human experience.
As in The Giver, where Jonas is able to slowly see color, Preston discovers a humanity that he’s lived his whole life without knowing. As we delve into the Preston’s past, we see his wife being taken away by authorities for “sense offending,” an event that keeps coming back to haunt Preston in his dreams. 
Preston and Brandt are sent to a woman’s house for sense offending. They apprehend her and discover a room full of art and everyday objects that predate Libria, from toys to records to bottles of perfume. In interrogation, Preston presents his prisoner, Mary (Emily Watson) with a small vial of perfume. He asks, “Who are your friends?” Mary replies, “I’m wondering if you have any idea at all what that word means, ‘friend’.” Mary grabs Preston and asks him, “Why are you alive?” Preston struggles with answering the question. He returns home, haunted by this revelation.
As Preston rids himself of the poisonous prozium, he finds himself fighting against conformity. Meanwhile, Brandt soon discovers that Preston is feeling. A great moment in the movie comes during extermination, when Preston and Brandt discover a group of dogs being defended by women and children. As the dogs are killed, one by one, we see Preston’s face after each shot. A puppy escapes and runs into Preston’s arms. The puppy licks Preston’s face.
This role predates Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne/Batman, his Trevor Reznik in The Machinist, and his Academy Award for The Fighter, but he should have received equal praise for his ability to discover Preston’s humanity throughout this film. And Taye Diggs is impeccable as Brandt, Preston’s antagonist, a calculating villain who is always three steps ahead of Preston. Brandt calls it “the intuitive arts.” He can sense when someone is feeling often before the offender realizes it.
Preston is tasked by “Father” to find the leaders of the resistance and bring them to justice. When he does find them, he is faced with the truth about his old partner: Partridge was a secret leader of the resistance and was in love with Mary. After learning this, Preston decides to help the resistance take down “Father” and the council. But as Mary’s imminent death sentence approaches, Preston finds it harder to deal with his emotions. He is caught by Brandt and brought before Councilman Dupont (Angus MacFayden) for judgment. In a twist, Preston puts the blame on Brandt as the traitor and resistance agent.
For his service, Preston is awarded a meeting with “Father,” but first he is put through a lie detector test. It senses that he is feeling. Brandt walks from behind him: “I told you I would make my career with you.” Then the truth is revealed: “Father” is really Dupont. The real “Father” died years ago and Dupont took over.
Enraged, Preston goes into attack mode. He kills his way through masked soldiers and police to get to Dupont, in a brilliant action sequence reminiscent of The Matrix. Preston makes it to Dupont’s office, and finds him in a beautiful room full of decorations and art. Standing next to Dupont is Brandt, now his personal bodyguard. Brandt unsheathes a katana and prepares to attack, but Preston disarms and turns the sword on Brandt, slicing his face from his head. Then the final battle begins. Preston and Dupont fight it out with gun-katas. As in The Matrix, they each dodge bullets in a ballet of gunfire until Preston finally takes “Father” out.
In the final moments, Preston stands over Dupont’s body as explosions rock the city. Prozium factories are destroyed and the war for humanity begins.
Equilibrium masterfully combines action with a journey into the spiritual, to discover what truly makes everyone human. To feel and show empathy may be our biggest weakness, but also our greatest strength. The movie shows that even though there is war and suffering in the world, experiencing even that is part of what makes us human. Take that away, and what you have left is a dystopian society of people who have no reason to be alive.
I recommend Equilibrium to anyone who loves great action combined with a great message. You can catch it on Netflix streaming or dvd. If you’re into films like Children of Men and Gattaca, you will not be disappointed. It’s a movie you gotta see.
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Troy Whiteley is a senior theatre and film major at The University of California, Riverside. Troy is an aspiring actor and cinematographer. Some of his work includesProspero in The Tempest and Marlon in Marlon and Momma by Michael Carnick. Troy is an avid movie-goer who enjoys any and all types of movies.