Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is a 2018 American dystopian drama film directed and co-written by Ramin Bahrani, based on the 1953 book of the same name by Ray Bradbury. It stars Michael B. Jordan, Michael Shannon, Khandi Alexander, Sofia Boutella, Lilly Singh, Grace Lynn Kung and Martin Donovan. Set in a future America, the film follows a "fireman" whose job it is to burn books, which are now illegal, only to question society after meeting a young woman. After premiering at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, the film aired on HBO on May 19, 2018 receiving mixed critical reviews, with praise for the performances and visuals, but criticism for the screenplay and lack of faithfulness to the source material. Plot In the future, after a Second American Civil War, most reading in the United States is confined to the Internet, called "The 9", and most books are banned (except for greatly simplified versions of books such as The Bible, To the Lighthouse and Moby Dick). The fire department is not the same, what it has been. The firemen do not contain fires, because the buildings are safe from fire, they have to burn books. Books are ordered to be burned by "Firemen", who are part of the "Ministry", a totalitarian dictatorship that blames unhappiness, mental illness, and conflicting opinions on reading the "wrong" literature. Guy Montag is a fireman living in Cleveland and goes about his work without question, believing that by following in his captain's footsteps he is serving and protecting society. All this changes when he meets an informant named Clarisse, who makes him challenge his actions and convictions by sharing some of the real history of the US and the rise of the Ministry with him. When he finally decides to rebel and understand how the "Eels" (book-reading outcasts) read, he comes to a realization—he now wants to read as well. Montag decides to help a rebel who has a plan to reproduce their information through animals. This rebel group encoded books into a starling's DNA so that it can live on and survive the efforts of the firemen. Montag was supposed to steal a transponder from the fire department in order to attach it to the bird so that it can be located by a group of scientists who will transfer the DNA to other animals. After Montag steals the transponder, fireman Beatty goes to Montag to confirm his intention to continue as a fireman burning books. The firemen go to Montag's house and find a large stash of planted books.