Director Cynthia L. Leon’s dystopian drama, Fair Rain, which focuses on the struggle of a bunch of insurrectionists to survive and change a broken world order, has some ambitious concepts to work with, but unfortunately lacks the proper vision to execute those ideas. Aside from that, almost every major department of the movie—acting, action sequences, and camera work—is fumbled hard, making it difficult for viewers to sit through the entirety of the runtime at one go. There is an attempt to keep the central intrigue going till the end, which might or might not provide greater understanding of the narrative, but it falls apart with the final revelation, once again due to the foundation of the narrative not being strong enough to support the concept.
Spoilers Ahead
A New World Order: The New Global Government
Following a severe cyberattack that crippled the United States’ agricultural and food import industry, riots broke out against the serving president, who remained unwilling to give up power despite losing the election and resorted to cracking down on dissent. States began seceding from the union, Congress got dissolved, and a global catastrophe shook the world as three billion people, mostly children, mysteriously disappeared. Amidst global chaos and unrest, the president was assassinated, which led to civil war in the States. Unselected Prime Minister Oren Caesar took control of the situation by bringing NATO and non-NATO nations together to sign a pact and launch a New Global, aka NG, government—which was able to unify the previously seceded states by force. An advanced, militarized police force, funded by business tycoon Harold Peyton, was created to work as NG enforcers. Laws were passed to ensure religious scriptures that weren’t approved by the NG government got banned and destroyed. Nations that did not become a part of the NG government became irrelevant and powerless in the following years.
Needless to say, the NG government’s rise to power and success in restoring order was marked by tyranny and power abuse and violation of human rights and freedom of expression. Opposing factions started forming to resist the oppressive NG government, but almost all of them ceased to exist, except for the insurrectionist group known as the Remnant. Led by former army colonel Ruth Martin, the Remnant proves to be the last hurdle NG forces need to cross to assume complete control of the world. Some members of NG, disillusioned by the barbaric brutality advocated by General Barnes and his second-in-command, Marcus, have defected to the Remnant. Throughout the movie, a propagandist journalist, Jamison Blair, working under the NG government’s payroll, continues to spread lies about the Remnant and sings praises for the ruling government led by Oren Caesar, which indicates how media has been turned into a tool by the tyrants to brainwash the masses. Lonnie Brooks, a former NG operative, loses all her troops in an ambush by NG forces while trying to deliver a book to Ruth, which the ruling government labels as a seditious and dangerous text and wants to get their hands on at any cost. The title of the book remains unknown till the end, and we will discuss it later.Â
How Was Camp Shiloh Discovered by NG Forces?
Being considered a war criminal for her attempt at assassinating PM Oren Caesar, Ruth is on the run with her close confidantes and has to shift from one Remnants camp to another on a regular basis. At present, Lonnie meets with her at Camp Shiloh, a Remnant settlement in an unnamed third-world country.
Members of Ruth’s close circle get alarmed seeing a stranger, Jacob Harris, approaching their camp. Jacob mentions being a former NG operative but also clarifies that he is not a spy; horrified by the atrocities carried out by the enforcers, he has quit the force for good. Reubens, one of Ruth’s advisors, appears extremely skeptical of Jacob, whereas former priest Mason and former senator Ann believe Jacob can be trusted, given a number of their core members are former NG operatives anyway. Jacob recognizes Lonnie, as both of them served in the NG at the same period. Lonnie owes her life to Ruth, who rescued her squad when Lonnie defected from NG and started taking down her former comrades. Jacob considered her to be a turncoat back then, only to realize much later that he himself could not live with the machinations of NG either. As Jacob starts to poke at her past wounds, Lonnie warns him by asking him to stay in his lane if he wants to stay at the camp. It needs to be mentioned that almost every single character we meet is either middle-aged or older. Following the mysterious disappearance of children across the world, a new generation doesn’t exist any longer, except for a few young survivors.
On the other hand, Aaron, an NG soldier stationed nearby, feels troubled after being asked to execute two unarmed Remnant members. A certain Sergeant Johnson, formerly one of the Remnants, entrusts Aaron with a piece of paper with something written on it—the content of which remains unknown but can be guessed to be considered problematic by NG enforcers. Aaron goes to visit his foster sister, a teenage Lisa, remaining unaware that she is part of the Remnant. Lisa, anticipating that Aaron might have been tracked by NG and could lead them to the camp, flees and meets with Ruth at Camp Shiloh. Not long after that, NG forces arrive in the area, prompting Ruth and co. to relocate. Initial suspicion falls on Jacob, who pleads his innocence, and after Lisa’s connection is revealed, she is considered to be unwittingly responsible for NG’s arrival.
Back at the NG outpost, Barnes finds the page at Aaron’s quarters, and upon his return, interrogates him. Aaron reveals Sergeant Johnson to be possibly responsible for planting it, who is questioned by Marcus and Barnes before being shot to death by them. As Barnes questions Aaron about how he ventured near a Remnant camp, he confesses that he was merely trying to meet his teenage foster sister, Lisa. Peyton, who was time and again belittling his enforcer duo, Barnes and Marcus, becomes excited after learning Lisa is a surviving teenager and informs the White House accordingly, as Prime Minister Oren Caesar might have some heinous plans involving her. Barnes is assigned to capture Lisa, locate Ruth, bring her to the NG outpost alive, and obtain the book. The Remnant, on the other hand, prepares for another altercation with NG and decides to shift to the nearby Remnant camp at Bay Camp, safeguarding the book in the process. Barnes decides to use Aaron as bait to locate Lisa and the rest of the Remnant. Jacob decides to leave the next day so that no more issues involving him trouble the Remnant any longer, only for Reuben to hold him at gunpoint, fearing that he will snitch on them later. However, Lonnie arrives right at that moment and coerces Reuben to leave Jacob to his devices.
What was the artifact protected by Remnant forces?
In reality, it was Reuben who is revealed to be the turncoat, and he was on Peyton’s payroll. Barnes tails Aaron, who briefly meets with Jacob—and both of them share their skeptical perspective regarding the NG government. Later, as Aaron meets Lisa, Barnes has him and his sister captured before killing one of the Remnant agents, Katherine, who followed Lisa from the camp. On the other hand, Reuben’s betrayal resulted in Marcus and Ann getting caught, and Ruth faces Barnes in one-on-one unarmed combat. However, getting beaten fair and square, a dishonorable Barnes injures Ruth by shooting at her. During their conversation, a crucial bit of information is revealed, which doesn’t lead anywhere. As it turns out, in her attempt to assassinate the PM, Ruth had shot him at point-blank range, but still he was later revealed to have survived. The only logical explanation here is the NG government has cloned its tyrant leader to keep the face of the new world order untainted as a means to maintain total control over the narrative. Anyway, Ruth is brought to the NG outpost, where, under Peyton’s orders, Barnes begins torturing her to extract the information about the forbidden book. Peyton also has Lisa held captive and is confirming whether she is a virgin or not, which hints at an extremely disturbing connection with PM Oren Caesar. Perhaps, in a world where the young generation has ceased to exist, the PM wants to experiment on surviving teenagers by trying to create new progeny.
On the other hand, Aaron is sent to be executed, but he manages to kill an NG soldier and assume his guise. Ruth faces psychological torture as Mason and Ann are brought by Barnes into the interrogation room to manipulate her; both of them are killed as Barnes tries to force her into revealing the book’s location. Ruth’s determination remains unwavering even in the face of crushing mental agony, and she finds unexpected help from Aaron, who was present in the interrogation room as a soldier. Aaron kills Barnes and rescues Ruth, causing a panic in Reuben and Peyton, who were watching the events unfold over surveillance cameras. Aaron, who already had questions about the NG government’s devious machinations, now completely turns against them to protect his sister. On the other hand, Lonnie, trying to get the book to the Bay Camp Remnant settlement, faces Marcus and engages in a gunfight, and even though she is able to kill him at the end, Lonnie herself succumbs to the injuries she sustained in the engagement as well. Jacob, who arrives at the scene, is requested by a dying Lonnie to deliver the book to Ruth.
In Fair Rain’s ending, Aaron helps Ruth to escape the NG outpost, and parting ways with her, decides to do whatever it takes to rescue his sister. Returning to a desolate Camp Shiloh, Ruth is apprehended by Reuben, who reveals his true nature, and at the same time, Jacob arrives at the spot to hold Reuben at gunpoint. With both the opposing parties coming to an impasse, Ruth decides to forgive Reuben for his actions, much to Jacob’s bewilderment. Later, Jacob, now formally dedicated to the Remnant cause, hands over the book to Ruth, which turns out to be a copy of the Holy Bible—and its function is to restore the old world order, which we could have seen coming.
For those of you who are familiar with Isaac Asimov’s The Foundation novels or have seen the Apple TV+ series adaptation, you have an idea about how genius scientist Hari Seldon decided to create a Foundation to preserve knowledge and philosophy to build a new civilization if the established one collapses in the far future. Similarly, in this context, the Bible is treated as such a foundation to restore morals and values in a chaotic world. The nature of the book was already hinted at in the initial moments of the narrative, where Ruth is seen reading a Christian book, which was banned by the NG government, and wondering about martyrs of bygone eras. At present, all her comrades who lost their lives to protect this single book have become martyrs, sacrificing themselves to uphold an ideal, a belief, and pass on the knowledge even while having uncertainties about whether humankind even has a future any longer. As the movie ends, Ruth chooses to cling to hope against all odds; that is the Remnant’s source of strength against their oppressive adversaries. However, the subplot involving Lisa and Aaron remains unresolved till the end, and will possibly be addressed with a sequel, where Aaron might join the Remnant to rescue his sister.
