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V for Vendetta
In the near future, Britain is ruled by the Norsefire political party, a fascist and totalitarian regime led by High Chancellor Adam Sutler. The government controls the populace through propaganda and fear, imprisoning or executing those deemed undesirable, including immigrants, homosexuals, and people of alternative religions.
Evey Hammond works for BTN, the state-run television network. Fourteen years earlier, her brother was killed in a biological terrorist attack, prompting her parents to become anti-Norsefire activists; they were later arrested and died in prison. One evening, a Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante known as " V " rescues Evey from assault by the secret police and takes her to witness his bombing of the Old Bailey.
The following morning, on 5 November, V hijacks BTN to announce his role in the bombing and urges the populace to rise against Norsefire by joining him outside the Houses of Parliament on Guy Fawkes Night in one year's time. Evey is knocked unconscious while helping V escape, and he takes her with him to prevent her arrest. V subsequently kills three key figures involved in Norsefire's rise to power, beginning with chief propagandist Lewis Prothero and the corrupt Bishop of London Anthony Lilliman; Evey flees after witnessing Lilliman's murder. V next painlessly kills remorseful researcher Dr. Delia Surridge.
Assigned to capture V, Chief Inspector Eric Finch uses Surridge's journal and information from former covert operative William Rookwood (V in disguise) to learn that two decades earlier, Surridge led Norsefire's biological research on political prisoners at the Larkhill Detention Facility, to create a weaponized virus. Most subjects died, but the prisoner in cell "V" developed enhanced physical attributes and amnesia. He later escaped and destroyed the facility. Head of secret police Peter Creedy then released the virus in staged terrorist attacks against Britain, using the ensuing panic to install Norsefire in power and enrich party officials—including Sutler, Prothero, and Lilliman—by selling the cure.
Meanwhile, Evey takes refuge with her boss, talk show host Gordon Dietrich, who shows her his collection of illegal materials such as art, an antique Quran, and homoerotic photographs. Inspired by V and Evey's courage, Dietrich satirizes Sutler on his program, leading to his arrest and execution. Evey is also imprisoned and tortured, finding solace in a hidden note from Valerie Page, a prisoner who refused to betray her beliefs before dying. When Evey refuses to offer any information to her captors, she is released. She discovers she was held by V, who subjected her to the ordeal to free her from fear. Though initially furious, Evey realizes that he has been avenging Valerie and the other Larkhill victims, and promises to see him again on 5 November. V later meets with Creedy, offering to surrender himself if Creedy delivers Sutler.
As Guy Fawkes Night approaches, V distributes thousands of Guy Fawkes masks across the nation. After the secret police kill a young masked girl, widespread masked dissent and riots break out. V meets Evey, and they share a dance before he shows her a train loaded with explosives in an abandoned tunnel beneath Parliament. Not intending to survive the night, V bequeaths the decision to start the train to Evey. She pleads with him to abandon his crusade and leave with her, but he refuses. Creedy meets with V and executes Sutler before demanding V unmask. Although mortally wounded in the ensuing fight with Creedy and his men, V kills them all, stating that his identity is unimportant compared to the idea he represents. He returns to Evey and dies in her arms after confessing his love for her. Finch arrives and, disillusioned with Norsefire, allows Evey to send V's body aboard the train.
With Sutler and Creedy dead, the military forces in London stand down as countless citizens dressed as V gather to witness Parliament's destruction. Finch asks who V was, and Evey replies, "He was all of us."