SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

THX 1138 (1971),produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope company, is based onGeorge Lucas’s college project. It shows his early interest in science fictionand the threats to freedom that he later explored in the Star Wars films.Here Lucas uses a depressing futuristic landscape, like 1984 and BraveNew World, to comment on contemporary situations.

The pervasive white setting removes all color fromlife, presenting a sterile existence, devoid of variety and individuality. Everyonehaving shaved heads adds to the feeling of uniformity. The whole world isself-contained in a windowless environment contributing to a sleek, modernversion of imprisonment. The holograms seem distorted as do somecommunications, creating a feeling of disorientation and alienation for theaudience. The robot policemen presage our current apprehension about AI takingover the world.

The Director’s Cut version opens with a bit of BuckRogers footage, which was shown like other short serials in movie theaters manyyears ago. The selection paints a future that is optimistic, stressing thebenefits of scientific technology. What follows is the inverse of thatprediction. Even the opening credits run backwards, suggesting that technologymay advance but not the state of humanity.

Robert Duvall plays THX 1138 whose work consists of constructingrobots which adds to the dehumanization process of the populace. People nolonger have distinctive names and instead are assigned alpha-numeric codes,demonstrating how humans are just parts in a governmental machine. The Stateanesthetizes the population, like the use of Soma does in Aldous Huxley’s BraveNew World. A female voice states, “if you feel you are not properly sedatedcall 348-844 immediately. Failure to do so may result in prosecution forcriminal drug evasion.” It may sound like the opposite of current attempts tostamp out illegal drug usage, but the opioid crisis in the United States generatedbillions of dollars in legally sold drugs.

Individual desires are suppressed, probably becausethey ignite passion that could lead to personal satisfaction not controlled bythe State. Therefore, sexual activity between individuals is considered“illegal.”

After 63 workers die, a voice tells the other peopleat the plant that the total for the section that suffered casualties is “242 toour 195. Keep up the good work.” The state dismisses the loss of workers toindustrial accidents, since it prioritizes the whole, not the individual.

THX 1138 has anxiety about his life. He goes to a sortof confessional, called a “unichapel,” which has an image of an enlarged faceof a man. IMDb says that it is a picture of Hans Memling’s “Christ Giving HisBlessing,” quite a desecration of a religious painting as sued here. The man inthe picture is called OMM, which is like the Hindu and Buddhist religious chantfor serenity, another satiric thrust as used here. THX must sign in byrepeating “Blessings of the state, Blessings of the masses,” and extolling “theParty.” There are many sayings repeated in the movie, like “Thrifty thinkersare always under budget,” which remind one of the proper responses in TheHandmaids Tale that are a form of mind control. The stress again is not onthe individual, like what is encouraged in a Communist or Fascist world. Thereis a voice that just repeats the prerecorded impersonal messages, “I understand,”and “Yes, fine.” THX says he couldn’t concentrate on the job, that his mate isacting strangely, and he doesn’t feel well. The film takes the idea that“confession is good for the soul,” and shows how the State utilizes it in animpersonal way for its own purposes. No matter the problem, the voice says, “Workhard, increase production, prevent accidents, and be happy.” This world’sreligion is consumerism, which apparently should make you “happy” no matter theemptiness a person feels. THX has heard all of this before and starts to exitthe booth early showing how this activity is not making him “happy.”

LUH (Maggie McOmie) is his mate. THX does not interactwith her but instead watches a naked woman dancing on a screen while he usessome device that helps him masturbate. It appears that the State determines howsexual energies are channeled into nonpersonal activity. There is a holographicvideo of a robot policeman beating an individual. The image seems to encourageacceptance of violence against individuals. The robots emit soothing voiceswhile they brutalize people, which creates a discordant, satiric effect. Anothervideo that is supposed to be funny jokes about getting a vehicle and runninginto a crowd. The indoctrination here is that human life is dispensable. THXsays the video is funny, but does not laugh, as human response is deadened.

He keeps going to the automated confessional saying heis not well. He says he only shares space with LUH. Subconsciously he isrebelling against this marginalized existence. She shows tenderness when hecomes back to their domicile. They make love but are under surveillance sointimacy is not private here. She has substituted medication which allowed himto be affectionate and wants him to stay off the drugs so that they can escapeand live in the “Superstructure,” which we learn about later.

SEN (Donald Pleasence) is a coworker who canmanipulate computers. He says his roommate was destroyed which he says was “inconvenient,”a cold way of describing a loss. He summoned LUH , had a talk with her, andsaid he now wants THX to be his roommate. He says THX rates “very high insanitation,” which fits in with this sterile environment as a priority. SEN wantsconformity to the norms. THX considers SEN to be in violation of manipulatingroommate selection, which shows he wants to stay with LUH and is showingresistance against manipulation, something which is unusual for this world.

THX files a violation against SEN, but being in drug withdrawal,he falters at work using radioactive material. He is arrested for drug usageviolation. He is tried and the prosecution argues, “We must not continue toconsume these erotics. We must exterminate the source of sin. Economics mustnot dictate situations which are obviously religious.” The State condemns sexas a “sin” which it must “exterminate” as an impediment to the hive-likeoperating system of this society. Conformity is its religion. The prosecutorsays that the loss of THX to the workforce is not an excuse since the “sin” isso reprehensible. The State limits personal freedom to comply with its owndictates of social order.

It is determined that THX is to be held in detentionand conditioned. Black-uniformed policemen prod him with shock sticks. He isforced to take pills, electrodes are used to monitor his brain activity, he isinjected with chemicals, and other intrusive acts are done. They take controlof his motor activities, and he is in the fetal position which shows how THX isforced into an infantile state so that any adult aspects can be reformed. Thereis voiceover from technicians who are experimenting with his bodily functions, dispassionatelymaking him into a lab rat. IMDb states that Lucas has this scene to show hisanimosity toward doctors after his own near-fatal car crash when he wasyounger.

LUH enters the white cell where THX resides and statesthat she is pregnant. They joyfully have sex but then police robots enter. THXresists but is paralyzed by them. SEN and others are added to the detentionarea. There is one individual who appears mentally challenged and there is adwarf, or “shell dweller,” who lives in the outskirts of the city. It seemsoutsider types who don’t fit in with the norm established by the State areremoved from society. SEN is there because THX reported him. He gives speechesthat IMDb notes are from President Richard Nixon’s speeches as Lucas satirizeswhat politicians were saying at the time the film was made. There is anattempted rape of one of the females and the destruction of one of the robotcops. It seems that extreme control over certain individuals creates an equaland opposite antisocial reaction by some. (The robot police are awkward,malfunction, or just fall down sometimes, which makes them appear as androidKeystone Cops).

THX and SEN wander very far in the vast whitelandscape. The film becomes even more surreal as they encounter a thirdindividual, a hologram, SRT (Don Pedro Colley) who decided to escape his confiningexistence. His plight mirrors the actual citizens. They exit into an areajammed with citizens bumping into each other. The documentary that accompaniesthe film states that Lucas feared “the empire crushing humanity.” Obviously,this idea flourishes in the Star Wars films. THX and SRT escape into anembryo-growing compartment, which conjures up how individuals are produced bythe State in Brave New World.

Police androids search for SRT and THX in maze-like wallsof electronic equipment which suggest manipulation and restriction. During thehunt for THX there is always a cost-estimate analysis being heard as to whetherTHX is worth the effort. The two then enter a morgue where the insides of thedead have been harvested for apparent recycling. Those servicing this area evenhave their faces whited-out, and they appear like ghosts, giving the wholescene a haunted appearance, as if all that is left of humanity are apparitions.

SEN enters the area where the monks of OMM exist. Heprays to the oversized portrait of the Christ-like figure, apparently wishingto change and go back to the community. But a monk realizes SEN has no ID sincehe is a prisoner and SEN attacks the monk.

THX and SRT tap into a computer and discover LUH hasbeen “consumed,” that is, reprocessed as a fetus to be grown as a newindividual subject to the State. The technology here is frightening as itreduces individuals to new parts to be developed for society.

SEN in the trams underground encounters childrenplaying a game which has them moving in unison to block their companions asthey run through the group. The scene suggests a no-escape maze, symbolizingthis culture. Apparently, SEN will be apprehended, but the audience does notsee this act.

THX and SRT steal highly complicated sports carvehicles. SRT slams into a post, implying the overly technological world can bedestructive. THX rockets through the underground expressway followed by androidcops who, again, malfunction. (It is funny to hear a voiceover saying that a “Wookie”was run over, foreshadowing the Star Wars character).

It becomes too costly to continue the pursuit of THX,and the cops are called back. He climbs up a ladder lining a shaft. He iswarned that he cannot survive outside, which turns out to be a lie. THX reachesthe surface where there is an oversized sun greeting him. It is an escape froman underground hell to an ascension into the natural world. But whether he can flourish there is left unanswered.