Plot Synopsis

Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury.Guy Montag, the most popular fireman in his district, with a mandate to achieve happiness and social harmony by burning books, physical or electronic, deleting and altering history, art, photos and facts, and replacing words with simplistic emojis. "Natives," or citizens, mainly stay home, happily interacting with screens and getting anything they need from "Yuxie," an advanced AI personal assistant that listens to and watches them at all times. "Eels" fight to save books, knowledge and culture. When firemen catch them, they punish Eels in public burnings, which are broadcast to the city on giant screens; the Eels digital identities and histories are wiped clean and they are banished to Talay City, a poor slum with very little technology. Captain Beatty is Montag's mentor and friend, and the head of the regional fireman brigade. He is grooming Montag to take his place, but Beatty also harbors a secret: a desire for knowledge and books, exactly what he trains Montag to burn. Beatty manages to ride a fine line of contradiction to survive within the Ministry. He finds himself losing control of Montag, his prized student, who is haunted by dreams and increasingly questioning his beliefs. Interacting with Clarisse, an Eel-turned-informant, Montag is drawn to forbidden knowledge. The turning point comes when an old woman burns herself alive, in front of him, for her books. Now, he must know why. His first step: steal a book then find Clarisse to explain it to him. Through Clarisse, he connects with rebel Eels who have developed OMNIS, a way of preserving all of humanity's art, history and literature in a microscopic strand of DNA. The Eels need Montag to use his status as a fireman to protect them. A conflicted and suspicious Beatty realizes that Montag has aligned himself with Clarisse, betraying him and the Ministry. Beatty confronts Montag, resulting in a series of fiery standoffs in which Beatty tries to bring his apprentice and only friend back into the fold. But Montag can't be saved. He has a goal: save the OMNIS. Mentor and apprentice will have to face the inevitable tragedy that neither friend wants-- one of them will have to be destroyed.