Set in a gritty, high-tech 2025, Repo Men depicts an urban landscape where biological failure has been solved by The Union, a corporation that mass-produces "artiforgs" (artificial organs). The future is presented as a consumerist nightmare where life-saving technology is treated as a luxury good, sold with high-interest payment plans that lead to inevitable default for the lower class. The world is divided between those who can afford survival and those living in the shadows as "debtors," hunted by state-sanctioned assassins who perform crude, non-consensual surgeries to reclaim corporate property.

The film’s dynamics lean heavily into biopunk and corporate surveillance. While Earth remains the central setting, it is characterized by extreme wealth disparity and the breakdown of public health into a purely extractive industry. Technology serves as a tool for enforcement; biometric scanners allow repo men to identify artificial organs through skin, effectively turning the human body into a walking barcode. In a final narrative twist, the film suggests the existence of advanced neural network simulations (the M5), where the brain can be suspended in a digital utopia to mask a terminal reality, a precursor to modern discussions around virtual reality and brain-computer interfaces.

As of 2026, the film's technological predictions show a mix of hits and misses. While we have seen significant advances in robotic prosthetics and artificial heart valves, the fully mechanical, barcode-ready organs of the film remain speculative. However, the film's true prediction lies in the socio-economic structure of healthcare. The concept of predatory medical lending and the corporatization of life-saving treatment mirrors contemporary anxieties regarding rising medical costs and the influence of private equity on healthcare access. Additionally, a background Easter egg in the film accidentally predicted the longevity of the Fast & Furious franchise, correctly identifying the release of a tenth installment by the mid-2020s.