Summary
In the not too distant future, technology has progressed to the point that we can predict murders and convict people before the crime is committed. When the name of the officer running the program comes up as a murderer one day, he has to find a way to prove his innocence… assuming he doesn't actually do the crime.
You can see that people have a lot of trust in the police. They accept the incarceration of people who the police say would have committed murder even though the crime never happened. At one point, a horde of spider-like machines is released into a building to scan people's retinas to prove their identity. A couple in the middle of arguing heavily stop to allow the machines to crawl onto their face, point light into their eyes, and then resume the argument immediately after. Every time they walk into a store, the automated displays greet them by name and ask them about prior purchase before making customized recommendations on something else they might like.
One that most people miss is the scene where Tom Cruise's character is eating a bowl of cereal and because he put the box down on the counter next to his TV, a quiet advertisement for the cereal begins to play. Cruise, annoyed, throws the box across the room.
Lessons
There are a lot in this one. If you don't mind trusting authority completely to never make mistakes or abuse power, this future might not be so bad. Also, if you don't mind complete strangers with something to gain by tricking and manipulating you (businesses) from knowing everything about you and using it to market to you constantly, then perhaps this isn't such a terrible thing. Otherwise, you might want to see what we hope isn't in our future by watching this movie.
