History Film / Equals

* CoitusEnsues: Yes, Silas and Nia fall in love. Yes, they have forbidden sex. Although it did have enough buildup, [[spoiler: the film can be said to be a {{Deconstruction}} of the typical convention for onscreen romances to end in sex nowadays, since the sex advances the plot instead of a throwaway given about the romance. Nia is revealed to be pregnant when called up for conception duty. She is hence taken away to the D.E.N., jeopardizing her and Silas's plans to escape the Collective.]]

!!Examples:

* EmotionlessGirl: More like ''People''.

* NoBloodTies

* SecretRelationship

* BigBrotherIsWatching: While there doesn't seem to be survelliance or monitoring equipment in the Collective per se, the surveillance is carried out by the population of the Collective themselves. Entering your workplace also requires you to scan your wrist, which reveals your name, job, and medical condition, making it easy to anyone to identify you quickly - and more importantly, if you have S.O.S. Characters are also constantly wary about where they talk and what they say, fearful of being overheard by others and reported.

* NeverSayDie: Averted. Death and suicide is clearly a concept that is mentioned and understood by members of the Collective in general. It's a source of constant fear for a few with S.O.S., who are afraid that their 'condition' is going to worsen to the point where they will inevitably be put to death.

A 2016 ScienceFiction {{Dystopia}} Romance film starring Creator/NicholasHoult as Silas, a digital artist, and Creator/KristenStewart as Nia, a historian who corrects Silas on the accuracy of the illustrations he produces. Follows in the footsteps of many similar Science Fiction Dystopian works, in which the story is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the remaining humans live in the technologically-advanced 'Collective', have undergone fetal genetic reprogramming to turn off emotions, and emotions as a whole are considered a dangerous, socially destabilizing illness known as S.O.S., or 'Switched On Syndrome'.

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: At the end of the film, Nia is technically dead in the eyes of the Collective, since her identity was switched with suicide victim's to sneak her out of the D.E.N.]]

* AfterTheEnd: The setting is post-apocalyptic.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Silas and Nia eventually escape the Collective, but Nia is pregnant and Silas can no longer feel emotion, and technically doesn't love Nia anymore. The world outside the Collective is also said to be chaotic, with fully emotional humans and lacking the comforts and technology of the Collective. The film ends with Silas and Nia on the train, without showing if they indeed were picked up by a pilot as arranged to successfully get them out of the Collective.]]
* BigBrotherIsWatching: While it appears that there isn't exactly survelliance or monitoring equipment in the Collective per se, the surveillance is carried out by the population of the Collective themselves. Entering your workplace requires you to scan your wrist, which reveals your name, job, and whether or not you have S.O.S. and which stage you are at, making it easy to anyone to identify you quickly - and more importantly, if you have the condition. Characters are also constantly wary about where they talk and what they say, fearful of being overheard by others and reported.
* BreadAndCircuses: Everyone had their own space to live, their own job, fancy-looking and delicious food is provided to all and there seems no mention of monetary transactions at all, so it can be assumed that people are just getting all of this stuff without having to pay for it.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Emotions are suppressed and frowned upon in this film, so when a suicide occurs, the witnesses (including Silas) barely exhibit any emotional response upon seeing the bloodied corpse.
* CoitusEnsues: Yes, Silas and Nia fall in love. Yes, they have forbidden sex. Although it did have enough buildup, [[spoiler: the film can be said to be a {{Deconstruction}} of the typical convention for all romances to end in sex in works nowadays, since the sex is used to advance the plot instead of just being used as a throwaway given about the romance. Nia unknowingly gets pregnant and it's revealed once she's called up for conception duty. This results in her being taken away to the D.E.N., jeopardizing Silas and Nia's plans to escape the Collective.]]
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The world seems peaceful, if extremely uniform, refer to BreadAndCircuses trope above. Of course, that comes at the price of no emotions, since they've been suppressed in humans, no meaningful relationships, and no sex, and if people ''do'' start feeling something, it's treated as a continually worsening illness that needs to be treated with medicine. Once you get to the most advanced stage of the 'illness', you will be essentially executed.
* DissonantSerenity: No one has any strong reactions to suicides or people being hauled off to their executions due to their emotions - in fact, it's a necessity to appear calm and stoic in order not to arouse suspicion that you may have S.O.S. [[spoiler: After Silas and Nia's friends, fellow S.O.S. sufferers, help Nia escape, they keep a calm demeanour once they see security headed their way and simply leave in a measured walk.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: An early indication that the Collective isn't as perfect as it seems occurs early on when a suicide occurs at Silas and Nia's workplace. [[spoiler: Silas almost goes this way as well.]]
* EmotionSuppression: Applied to everyone in the Collective - everyone has their emotions 'switched off' in the fetal developmental stage - and obviously portrayed as a Bad Thing. Common in Dystopian works, the trope is obviously Deconstructed to show how emotionally-suppressed people miss out on things like Love [[spoiler: and ''then'' reconstructed, although in a negative way. Silas later willingly undergoes a permanent form when a cure for S.O.S. is discovered later in the film, under the mistaken impression that Nia is dead and unable to cope with the grief and anguish. Having no emotions leaves you out on positive emotions, but they shield you from the negative ones as well.]]

* EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture: Touchscreens are everywhere, in people's homes and workplaces, emitting soft lights and gentle chimes.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: At the end of the film, Nia is technically dead in the eyes of the Collective, since her identity was switched with another woman who committed suicide in order to sneak her out of the D.E.N.]]
* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler: Silas, who is anxiously waiting for Nia to return so they can escape together, goes to ask about her and thinks she's dead, which drives him to drastic actions such as an aborted suicide attempt and permanently turning off his emotions.]]
* MandatoryMotherhood: All adult females (as long as they don't have a history of S.O.S.) including Nia at some point have 'conception duty', where they are inseminated and get pregnant in order to keep society populated. As the name suggests, it's viewed as a social obligation.

* NotSoStoic: Silas starts to develop S.O.S. and feel emotions through the course of the film, and it's later revealed that [[spoiler: Nia was already capable of emotion a year before Silas did, she was just hiding it. She has an actual emotional response to seeing the suicide early on in the film, cluing the audience in.]]

* ReleasedToElsewhere: People at the last stage of S.O.S or people who transgress the rules are sent to the D.E.N, where they will be put to death. It's interesting to note that most people are clearly aware of what that really entails.

* SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: While most of the film is on the Shiny side, with many scenes almost completely white, some tense scenes where [[spoiler: Nia is dragged away to be imprisoned at the D.E.N. take place in gritty, more industrial holding cells.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: PlayedForDrama, plot-wise. [[spoiler: When Nia is undergoing a checkup while reporting for conception duty, she resignedly asks if she has S.O.S., which she does (she's been hiding it for over a year.) Given her initial panic about exposing the fact she has S.O.S., the audience expects the nurse to confirm this, but instead the nurse reveals a PlotTwist - Nia's pregnant.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: Played For Drama, plot-wise. [[spoiler: When Nia is undergoing a checkup while reporting for conception duty, she resignedly asks if she has S.O.S., which she does (she's been hiding it for over a year.) Given her initial panic about exposing the fact she has S.O.S., the audience expects the nurse to confirm this, but instead the nurse reveals a PlotTwist - Nia's pregnant.]]

* AsceticAesthetic: The buildings, interiors, homes, apparel, and most of the scenes in this film except a select few are sleek, clean and minimalist, in a palette of white and shades of grey.
* AfterTheEnd: The movie takes place in one of the few places still habitable by mankind after an apocalypse situation struck the Earth, with humanity reduced to a fraction of its original number.

->''"Will to risk everything to feel something?"''