buckikris In a futuristic fascist world, a majority of the men and women are infertile. There is only a small percentage can bear children. In the beginning of the film Kate(Natasha Richardson) who later become Offered, is caught. She seems to be escaping with her husband, and daughter. The family runs into guards from the Republic Of Gilead. They kill Kate's husband, and take her daughter from her. Kate is taken to a colony where the majority of women are taken; and her daughter to another family. Once she arrives at this camp, she is processed and separated. Women are screen, tested, and put into groups. Kate(Offered) is put into a group where women who are fertile, become Handmaiden's. Those that can't reproduce are considered slave labor. The Handmaidens are supposed to be the lucky ones. Offered meets Ofglen( Elizabeth Montgomery), who was caught begin a Lesbian. She was labeled as a gender traitor, but spared execution because she can reproduce. Offered and Ofglen get to know each other; and quickly become fast friends. Once the bus arrives at the handmaid training camp, they both think of ways to escape. The women are assigned rooms, and daily they have this type of submissive training. The group consists of numerous women, who will be one day picked to become a surrogate for a well off family to produce their child. They are brainwashed to believe this is right. A society that takes women to breeding camps to be bred like cattle, is very scary.Once Offred and Ofgled think of a plan, Offred is picked to be a Handmaiden for The Commander( Robert Duvall) and Serena(Faye Dunaway). Once there Offred is forced into this bizarre love ritual. She lies between Serena and The Commander. It is really demoralizing, what these Handmaids are forced to do and become. These rituals are done several times. Supposedly once a Handmaiden conceives, they are sent back to the camp until her due date is near. In Offred's case she goes though numerous rituals with no success. On day she is approached by Serena, to use a different method, so she will mot get sent to the work camps. The men are never blamed if they are the ones who are sterile. Serena tells Offered if she's interested she will introduce her to Nick(Aidan Quinn).In the meantime Offred Helps Ofglen escape from the camp. They devise a plan to distract the warden. Ofglen tells the warden a toilet is overflowing in the bathroom. The warden checks it out and walks into a trap. Offred and Ofglen tie her up, and Ofglen escapes to a new life.As for Offred the horror continues, until she eventually makes good on Serena's plan. She develops a strong relationship with Nick, and eventually becomes pregnant. She know this could be her opportunity to escape and wants Nick to come with her. She plans to kill The Commander, so she can escape and raise her child away from this hell. At first, it looks like she may get away, until she is caught by Serena. The guards arrive, along with Nick. At first she thinks Nick is going to turn her in, but he quietly tells her to play along. Nick becomes a mole, but eventually aids in her escape. Near the end Offred is up in the hills still waiting for Nick. It becomes a waiting game, and she is unsure she will ever see him again.This is a classic movie, when I first watched it; it freaked me out. I recommend this movie to anyone, it's an independent film and it's rare. When I watch this film it reminds me of the far right Republicans. It's a scary thought, but does our government have to much control over the citizens. This movie will make you think about that question.

rsternesq A number of others have noted that the book, film and all associated with it indulged in a series of cheap shots against America and its Christian culture. That is absolutely true. The author, who had visited Afganistan and was aware that her distopia was a close cousin to Islamic society as it actually exists. All concerned didn't have the guts to state the obvious connections between the nightmare world of the Handmaid's Tale and Islam. They would rather imagine that the country that has consistently given the greatest gifts of liberty, opportunity and bountiful living to many -- including women -- would somehow turn into a nightmare landscape ruled by the imaginary right. Oh but wait. It is inching there as we watch but it is the ever deceitful left that is dragging us and it is dragging us all and instead of a land in which some women wail and cry, it is for all of us to weep. This movie is a reminder that beating up on America is easy and noticing that there are real distopias where women face death every day could end in a knifing in the streets of Europe.

moonspinner55 Margaret Atwood's acclaimed novel, adapted for the screen and turned into a high-minded but posed, uncomfortable human drama, despite an expert cast. Taking place in the soulless distant future, all young women have been turned into child-breeders for wealthy, infertile couples, with Nastasha Richardson assigned to nightmarish twosome Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway. Elizabeth McGovern plays a lesbian who hopes to make a break for it (every totalitarian society should have one). Certainly watchable, though an icy cold presentation which promises to be much more than it is. Richardson doesn't flash a hint of her feisty personality, though McGovern is very good and Duvall does what he can with a terrible role. ** from ****

tmg380 While it's true that "The Handmaid's Tale" is a rotten movie, it does have the excuse of being based on a rotten novel. Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood's anti-American screed was lame enough when first published in 1985; having recently reread the book, I can confirm that "The Handmaid's Tale" hasn't improved with age.The sheer preposterousness of Atwood's scenario, her patent dislike of the Colossus of the South and her progressive finger wagging pretty much sink the book. In the movie, though her scenario remains more or less intact, Atwood's ideological preoccupations get short shrift. As a result, the movie does possess a certain entertainment value—providing that the viewer chooses to regard it as a parody or spoof. If, for example, we didn't know that Atwood was serious, the sexual protocols of the Republic of Gilead would seem a stroke of comic genius. So I can't thoroughly despise this piece of cinematic dreck. "The Handmaid's Tale" does for progressive earnestness what "Valley of the Dolls" does for pill popping: makes it seem really funny, though with absolutely no intention of raising a laugh.