In 2019, Earth is depicted as a world recovered from a vaguely defined "global contamination," though this turns out to be a corporate fabrication. While the general populace lives in a recognizable near-future Los Angeles, an elite class of "sponsors" funds the Merrick Institute, a clandestine facility where human clones—referred to as agnates—are raised in a sterile, underground environment. These clones are kept in a state of arrested intellectual development, monitored by pervasive biometric sensors, and told they are the survivors of a world-ending catastrophe awaiting relocation to "The Island," the last pathogen-free zone on the planet.

The film portrays a hyper-capitalist society where scientific advancement has outpaced ethical regulation. This world is defined by extreme class stratification, where the wealthy purchase "insurance policies" in the form of living, breathing replicas used for organ harvesting, surrogate motherhood, or life extension. Technologically, the 2019 of the film features advanced infrastructure including maglev trains and holographic camouflage used to hide industrial facilities. Outside the Merrick Institute, the urban landscape is dominated by aggressive brand placement and digital surveillance, suggesting a world where privacy has been entirely sacrificed for security and consumer convenience.

When compared to the actual 2019, the film’s predictions show a significant divergence in infrastructure and biotechnology. While human cloning remains a legal and ethical red line in the real world, the film accurately anticipated the rise of personalized health tracking and the use of biometric data as a tool for institutional control. Conversely, its vision of public transportation—specifically a high-speed, multi-level Amtrak maglev system—has been noted by critics as highly optimistic compared to the reality of modern transit delays. The film's most prescient element may be its depiction of targeted digital advertising (notably the MSN Search booths), which mirrors the data-driven marketing ecosystems that emerged by the late 2010s.