WHAT IF The World Has No Electricity For 15 Years?

[0:00]The story kicks off back in the good old days when humans had electricity. In Chicago, a young Charlie is watching Looney Tunes. Little Danny is playing with an iPad and their mother Rachel chats on the phone. Suddenly, the father Ben bursts inside and with a worried look, he informs them that they don't have much time left. Rachel seems to know what he's talking about. Elsewhere, two guys are seen going somewhere via the main highway. One of them is Ben's brother, Miles, and the other one is his friend. Miles receives a call from Ben who frantically tells him it's all going to turn off and it will never, ever turn back on. Confused, Miles asks his brother to explain calmly, but just then, his phone gets switched off. At the same time, his friend's smartphone also blanks out automatically. On the other hand, as lights begin to flicker, Ben checks his laptop which says downloading files. Just in time, it hits 100%, after which he pulls a USB plug from the laptop and slips it into a metallic triangular locket-like thing. On the highway, Miles and his friend step off of their stalled car to witness a stream of headlights flickering off one car at a time. Planes start crashing here and there, transformers explode and catch fire, and even the iconic Willis tower goes pitch black. We are then shown an aerial view of the globe, which shows that lights are going out everywhere. It starts in the northeast corner of the US and spreads west and southward. The world is falling into chaos. Guess it's time to bust out the old playing cards and books by candlelight, a fate which Gen Z views as worse than death. Then we hear a narration which informs us that 15 years have passed since that fateful day. After the blackout, nothing worked. All electronic items were rendered useless, and not only that, car engines, jet turbines and even small batteries became defunct. This created a chain of events that caused mass casualties. Sickness without medicine, fires without fire trucks, food without factories. Soon governments fell and militia started rising. After the blackout, the United States was divided into six parts: The Monroe Republic, the Georgia Federation, the Plains Nation, Texas, the California Commonwealth, and the Wasteland. Due to the terrorizing state of the cities, most people have left for other safer places. Ben and his family are among those as they have relocated to the countryside. It is a peaceful colony in the Monroe Republic where a few hundred people have settled. It is revealed that Ben's wife Rachel passed away a few years ago and now he is dating a British medical doctor named Maggie. The children, Danny and Charlie, are also grown up now, but Danny is vulnerable to being alone as he has severe asthma. One day, as Charlie is out in the forest with her brother, she finds an abandoned RV. Curious, she gets inside and finds a mini fridge that reminds her of something. Minutes after the blackout, her parents let her eat all the ice cream that was melting because that would be the last ice cream she ever had. A few days later, as Charlie is out on one of her usual expeditions in the forest, the main military force of the Monroe Republic, the Monroe Militia, barges into the colony. The militia have the Monroe Republic symbol branded on their wrist to identify them as simps for Marilyn. I mean as members. As this settlement is located in the Monroe Republic, the residents have an obligation to give up their crops as a form of tax. However, Ben knows that this is more than just a tax issue. Realizing that something bad is about to happen, he approaches his good friend Aaron and hands him the locket, which contains the USB that we saw earlier. He tells him to keep the locket safe no matter what. Then, the captain of the militia group, Major Tom Neville, asks for Ben to come with them. He also inquires about his brother Miles, but Ben replies that they haven't met in 15 years. As everyone watches in fear, the militia prepares to leave, but just then, Danny points a crossbow at them, threatening them to let his father go. Ben tries to calm the situation down, but to no avail. Unfortunately, he is the first one to be shot, and because of this, Danny takes down an enemy. Soon, the villagers also start attacking the militia, but they are of no match. After several people are killed, Tom and his army finally leave, but not before taking Danny with them as a hostage. A while later, Charlie finally arrives and finds her father lying in a pool of blood. With his last breaths, he informs her that Danny has been kidnapped by the militia. And now, their only hope to retrieve him is Miles, who is living in Chicago. Charlie pleads with him to hang on, but Ben tells her to find Uncle Miles before passing away. Expectedly, Charlie is devastated by the incident, but she has no time to grieve. She packs her belongings and gets ready to head out alone, but a concerned Maggie and Aaron also decide to join her, much to Charlie's dismay. The trio travels the entire day through dangerous terrain and forms a close bond with each other. The next morning, when Charlie heads to a nearby waterfall to fetch some water, she comes across a dangerous-looking man named Nate. Since the world is plunged into total anarchy after the blackout, every new individual is deemed to be a threat. Even more so for a girl like Charlie, know what I'm saying? But luckily for her, Nate simply asks her name and then lets her go. That evening, Charlie and her group find an abandoned plane and decide to sleep inside. But unfortunately, it turns out to be the hideout of a group of scavengers. The thugs hold the three at knifepoint, and one of them takes Charlie away. Realizing the danger, Maggie cleverly makes the other thugs drink some whiskey, which she had poisoned earlier. And as soon as they do, they choke to death. On the other hand, the final thug tries to have his way with Charlie, but just then, Nate arrives in the nick of time and saves her. The next morning, he accompanies the group, as it turns out that he is also heading to Chicago. Maggie is skeptical about the new member in the squad and warns Charlie that they shouldn't trust anyone, but the latter reminds her that not everyone is bad. Elsewhere, as Major Tom and his army are resting, Danny manages to free himself from his shackles and flees. He runs the whole night and gets far away from the militia, but eventually collapses near a house due to an asthma attack. A few hours later, he wakes up inside the house and finds a lady pointing her rifle at him. She introduces herself as Grace and inquires how he ended up here. Danny responds that he was kidnapped, and hearing this, the woman finally lowers her guard. She also hands him an inhaler, mentioning that it belonged to her late son. Elsewhere, the group finally reaches the city of Chicago, which is also located in Monroe Republic. It's a sight to behold. Wrigley Field is covered in ivy plants, streets are filled with fish vendors, and the Volkswagen Beetle cars turned into horse buggies. Following the information given by Ben, they reach a hotel and ask the bartender about a certain Miles Matheson. At first, the bartender denies knowing anyone by that name, but when Charlie mentions that her father has recently died, he speaks up. He reveals that he himself is Miles, but he has been keeping his identity a secret due to security reasons. He's literally the first person they talked to, so he's not doing a great job of hiding. Shortly after, Miles takes his niece inside and talks to her privately. Charlie tells him everything about how the militia killed her father and kidnapped Danny. She then inquires about why they are after her family, to which Miles responds that Ben knew something about the blackout. The leader of the Monroe Republic, General Monroe, is a cruel dictator who wants to take control over the entire country and eventually, the world. But for that, he needed weapons like tanks, fighter planes and even nuclear bombs. And since Ben was the only guy who knew about the blackout's cause, Monroe believed that he could reverse it. Hearing all this, Charlie becomes even more concerned about her brother and asks her uncle to help her, but surprisingly, he refuses. He claims that the mission is too risky and it's not worth fighting for. Distraught, Charlie heads back to her group and prepares to leave. Seeing her upset, an overprotective Nate confronts Miles and almost gets into a fight, but instead gets his identity exposed from his wrist. It turns out that Nate is also a member of the Monroe militia and he was following Charlie and the group just so he could get to Miles. Everyone is stunned by the revelation, but before they can take action, Nate runs away. Despite his location being compromised, Miles still refuses to leave his hideout. He asserts that he will face the militia alone if he has to. Charlie and the group offer to help him, but Miles shouts at them, forcing them to leave. In no time, a large army of militia, including Nate arrives and starts fighting with Miles. But despite being outnumbered, he uses his incredible sword skills and agility to kill the enemies one by one. Soon Charlie and the gang also return and join the fight, making it slightly more even. Amidst the chaos, a member of the militia tries to kill Charlie, but surprisingly, Nate knocks him out before running away. After a while, Miles kills the captain of the militia group and eventually ends the fight. He then agrees to join Charlie and the others to find Danny, making everyone excited. Following this, Miles has a flashback about the night of the blackout. After the whole world goes dark, he gets out of his car along with his friend. They then return to their Marine Corps base, revealing that the two of them are Marines. There, a flash of the friend's tattoo, an M in the same style as the militia's symbol, reveals that Miles's friend is none other than Sebastian Monroe, the current leader of the Monroe Republic. Elsewhere, Major Tom and his men follow Danny's footprints and arrive outside Grace's house. Initially, the kind woman tries to save the boy, but when Major Tom threatens to kill her, she steps aside. With this, the militia barges inside the house and recaptures Danny. After they are gone, Grace covertly goes to the basement and takes out her pendant, which is similar to the one that Aaron is carrying. When she presses it, surprisingly, a light bulb inside the room starts glowing. Grace then plugs the pendant into her makeshift computer and starts chatting with someone. The guy on the other side is relieved that the militia didn't catch her secret. Elsewhere, Miles leads the group to a tavern. He is looking for a former associate named Nora, who supposedly is a master in creating explosives. Miles tells Charlie that if they are to rescue Danny, they will need a skilled fighter like Nora. At the tavern, he is suddenly attacked by a few bounty hunters, but once again, he comes out on top. He then chokes one of the men and forces him to reveal Nora's location. It turns out that she has been apprehended by the militia and is currently working as a slave. At night, Miles decides to go on the journey alone, claiming that it is too dangerous. He then tells the rest of the group to meet in exactly two weeks in Lowell, Indiana. However, the next morning, when Maggie and Aaron wake up, they find out that the stubborn Charlie has also left, much to their annoyance. Left with no other options, Aaron finally shows Maggie the pendant that Ben gave him. He also reveals that Ben instructed him to meet a woman called Grace in Grant Park, Illinois. Although the two are still worried about Charlie, they assume that she will be fine and instead head to Grant Park to find Grace. Along the way, the two talk about how Grace could be the key in restoring energy back to the Earth, and they get excited. On the other hand, as Major Tom is leading his army back to their base, a gunshot is heard. Hence, he changes course and follows the sound until he reaches a small house. It turns out that in this Monroe Republic, civilians can't own guns and ammunition. This is the reason why everybody uses crossbows and other short-range weapons. To make a statement, Major Tom threatens the owner of the house to give up all of his weapons. Realizing that he will be killed anyway, the man shoots one of Tom's men before getting shot himself. As all of this transpires, a terrified Danny looks on. At the militia's base, we are formally introduced to General Monroe. He is the main evil behind all this cruelty and is longing for world domination. Monroe interrogates a civilian about the shortage of weapons, but when the scared man doesn't answer, he brutally finishes him off. Later, he enters a room and approaches one of his workers. She is revealed to be Ben's wife, Rachel, who is assumed by everyone to be dead. Monroe breaks the news that Ben has passed away, and hearing this, Rachel gets visibly upset. Meanwhile, Charlie travels the whole day in the forest and eventually finds her uncle. As expected, Miles is angry at her for disobeying his orders, but when Charlie mentions that her brother is prone to asthma attacks, he calms down. Soon, the two come across a large number of slaves, who are apparently transporting a helicopter. It turns out that General Monroe is so sure that the energy will return someday that he has already started preparing himself for world domination. Among the slaves is also Nora, but saving her will be difficult as there are several guards, one of whom is carrying a sniper rifle. Despite the risks, Miles is adamant on saving his friend. He waits until the night and sets his plan in motion. At first, he creates a distraction and lures away the guards. Then, he sneaks near the slaves and eventually frees Nora, but to his dismay, he learns that Nora had voluntarily become a slave, as she wanted to steal the sniper rifle. Snipers are an extremely rare weapon in this world. After a bit of catching up, Miles tells Nora that he needs her help in rescuing his nephew. She immediately agrees, but in return, asks his help to retrieve the sniper rifle. Miles is reluctant, but he has no choice but to agree. After a while, the three head to a nearby hut and start planning. Using gunpowder, Nora makes a makeshift weapon which will be used to kill the guard with the sniper. However, the problem is that the weapon will be effective only from a few meters. This means that someone will have to approach the guard and shoot him. Miles and Nora will easily be detected, and that leaves Charlie as the only viable option. Before leaving, Miles assures her that they will take out the rest of the guards as soon as she makes the kill. Shortly after, Charlie hides the weapon inside her sleeves, pretends to be a lost traveler and approaches the guards. She then gets near the guard with the sniper and takes him out immediately. And before the other guards can do anything, Miles and Nora ambush them and finish them off. After the altercation, as the slaves are being freed, Nora reveals that she stole the sniper for the rebels, a bunch of patriotic folks who want to liberate the country from the militia. At Grant Park, as Grace is typing on her computer, someone barges inside her house and confronts her. He also has a locket like hers, which is releasing energy into his taser stick.