Set in a 2011 shaped by a devastating 1980s viral pandemic and a permanent global oil crisis, the film depicts a United States that has fractured into a sterile, bureaucratic technocracy. The central government has outlawed all private fossil-fueled vehicles, forcing the remaining population into dense, highly controlled urban centers. In this future, the open road has been reclaimed by nature or abandoned, and personal mobility is restricted to state-sanctioned electric mass transit and low-speed electric golf carts.

The film suggests a world where the "Nanny State" has used environmental and health crises to consolidate power, creating a safe but joyless society. This timeline diverges from reality through its de-federalization, where California exists as a sovereign, secessionist "free state" that allegedly still permits internal combustion engines. Social dynamics are characterized by a sharp divide between the compliant urban population and "misfits" who value individual autonomy over collective security, with the latter being actively suppressed by a government that views the private car as a dangerous symbol of rebellion.

The film’s predictions regarding viral pandemics and the subsequent social isolation echo real-world events of the early 2020s, though the film incorrectly anticipated a total collapse of the oil industry by 2011. While the electric vehicle infrastructure depicted is primitive compared to modern reality, the film accurately signaled the rise of satellite surveillance and the persistent tension between environmental regulation and personal liberty. Additionally, the depiction of state-controlled media suppressing information about energy reserves remains a common trope in critiques of modern governance.