In the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
Sometime in the future, conformity and homogeneity are the rule in a state-controlled society in which the populace follows the wants of the faceless statue without question. This is achieved through a mandatory drug regimen, which also suppresses human desire; human relationships and sexual intercourse are banned. The law of the state is policed by a force of robocops. The physical environment is totally within a manufactured enclosure; what's outside of it is completely unknown. THX 1138 is a loyal subject who goes about his business as a skilled factory worker building robocops. And even when he begins to have strange feelings, he does what is obligated by going to the state-run confessional, which further brainwashes through its reinforced mantra of happiness, loyalty, and understanding. THX 1138 is given a glimpse into the other side through his computer-matched and thus appointed female roommate, LUH 3417, and her surveillance colleague SEN 5241, LUH 3417's vision, which THX 1138 might want to continue despite its illegality. If THX 1138 is able to keep his activities from the authorities and the robocops, he will have to figure out what options are available to him.—Huggo
George Lucas adapted this, his first film, from a short he made at University. THX 1138, LUH 3417, and SEN 5241 attempt to escape from a futuristic society located beneath the surface of the Earth. The society has outlawed sex, with drugs used to control the people. THX 1138 stops taking the drugs and gets LUH 3417 pregnant. They are both thrown in jail, where they meet SEN 5241 and start to plan their escape.—Colin Tinto <[email protected]>
The human race has been relocated to a underground city beneath the Earth's surface where the population is entertained by holographic TV that broadcasts sex and violence, and a robotic police force enforces the law. Society controls all life, all citizens are drugged to control their emotions and behavior, and sex is a crime. Factory worker THX 1138 stops taking the drugs, then breaks the law by falling in love with his roommate LUH 3417; when LUH 3417 gets pregnant, THX 1138 is jailed. Escaping from jail with illegal programmer SEN 5241 and a hologram named SRT, THX 1138 goes in search of LUH 3417 and escapes to the surface with robotic police in pursuit.—Daniel Williamson
In the 21st century, sexual intercourse and reproduction are prohibited, whereas use of mind-altering drugs is mandatory to enforce compliance among the citizens and to ensure their ability to conduct dangerous and demanding tasks. Emotions, coitus, and the concept of family are taboo. Everyone is clad in identical uniforms and has shaven heads to emphasize equality, except the police androids (who wear black) and robed monks. Instead of names, people have designations with three arbitrary letters (referred to as the "prefix") and four digits, shown on an identity badge worn at all times.
At their jobs in central video control centers, SEN 5241 and LUH 3417 keep surveillance on the city. LUH has a male roommate, THX 1138, who works in a factory producing android police officers. At the beginning of the story, THX leaves the job while the loudspeakers urge the workers to "increase safety" - and congratulate them for only losing 195 workers in the last period - to the competing factory's 242. On the way home, he stops at a confession booth in a row of many, and mumbles prayers about "party" and "masses", under the portrait of "OMM 0000". A soothing voice greets THX, and OMM ends every confession with a parting salutation: "You are a true believer, blessings of the State, blessings of the masses. Work hard, increase production, prevent accidents and be happy".
At home, THX takes his drugs and watches holobroadcasts while engaging with a masturbatory device. LUH secretly substitutes pills in her possession for THX's medications, whereupon THX eventually suffers physical discomfort (vomiting) along with mental/emotional changes (confusion). The drug substitution also leads to LUH and THX becoming involved romantically, resulting in the two engaging in intercourse. THX later is confronted by SEN, who arranges THX as his new roommate, but THX files a complaint against SEN for the illegal housing mate change. Without drugs in his system, THX falters during a critical and hazardous phase of his job, and a control center engages a "mind lock" on THX which raises the level of danger. After the release of the mind lock, THX makes the necessary correction to that work phase. THX and LUH are arrested. THX enjoys a brief reunion with LUH, disrupted shortly after she reveals her pregnancy.
At THX's trial, THX is sentenced to prison, alongside SEN. Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN find an exit and they are later joined by hologram SRT 5752, who starred in the holobroadcasts. During the escape, THX and SRT are separated from SEN. Chased by the police robots, THX and SRT are trapped in a control center, from which THX learns that LUH has been "consumed", and her name has been reassigned to fetus 66691 in a growth chamber. SEN eventually escapes to an area reserved for the monks of OMM, where a lone monk notices that SEN has no identification badge. SEN attacks him and later wanders into a child-rearing area, strikes up a conversation with children, and sits aimlessly until police androids apprehend him. THX and SRT steal two cars, but SRT crashes his into a concrete pillar.
Pursued by two police androids on motorcycles, THX flees to the limits of the city and escapes into a ventilation shaft. The police androids pursue him on motorcycles along the ventilation shaft to an escape ladder, but are ordered by Central Command to cease pursuit, on grounds that the expense of his capture exceeds their budget by 6%. The city is then revealed to be entirely underground, and THX has escaped onto the surface, where he then witnesses the sun setting.
