The Handmaid's Tale is a 1990 dystopian film based on Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name. Set in the near future in the United States, the government has been overthrown by a religious fundamentalist group known as the Sons of Jacob who establish the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that rules with an iron fist.
Due to rampant pollution and environmental disasters, fertility rates have plummeted, causing the government to enforce strict sexual laws. Women who are deemed fertile are forced into sexual slavery as "handmaids" and are assigned to wealthy families to bear children for them.
The main character, named Offred, played by Natasha Richardson, is one of these handmaids. Previously, she was a university professor with a husband and child, but her family was taken away from her when the Sons of Jacob rose to power.
Despite the oppressive and violent nature of Gilead, Offred hopes to escape and reunite with her family. She becomes involved with an underground resistance movement and begins an affair with the family's chauffeur, Nick (Aidan Quinn), who may or may not be a member of the resistance.
The film portrays the brutal reality of life under a totalitarian regime, where individual freedom is suppressed, and women are reduced to nothing more than a reproductive commodity. The Handmaid's Tale has become a seminal work in feminist literature and is often cited as a cautionary tale about the dangers of religious extremism and patriarchal control.