A selected couple becomes trapped in a cynical social experiment where surveillance, authority, media spectacle, and rebellion blur together.
Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
Selected For Tomorrow
Jean-Michel and Claudine are selected as a model couple for a future-city experiment. They arrive at the test facility and enter a regime of constant surveillance.
Key Events
Model Couple Selection — Jean-Michel and Claudine are selected as the heterosexual model couple for a future-city experiment. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Ministry of the Future
Arrival At Facility — The couple arrives at the facility where the experiment will take place. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Surveillance Begins — The couple is placed under constant surveillance and monitoring. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Constant Evaluation — The sociological evaluation system repeatedly rates the couple's behavior. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Consumer Product Trials — The couple evaluates various state-of-the-art consumer products. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Daily Life Under Glass
The couple evaluates consumer products and performs daily routines under observation. The artificial conditions gradually produce irritation and alienation.
Key Events
Consumer Product Trials — The couple evaluates various state-of-the-art consumer products. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Alienating Daily Routines — Their ordinary routines become increasingly alienating and artificial. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Growing Couple Tension — The couple becomes increasingly irritated with the experiment and with each other. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Media Speculation — Talk shows and news reports speculate about the experiment's progress. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Television and news coverage
Conflicting Experiment Motives — The experiment's motives become unclear as its procedures and purpose are treated with contempt. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
The Denormalization Test
Media coverage speculates about the experiment while its motives become increasingly unclear. The denormalization phase and an authority test intensify the couple's humiliation.
Key Events
Conflicting Experiment Motives — The experiment's motives become unclear as its procedures and purpose are treated with contempt. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Denormalization Phase — The experiment enters a new phase called 'denormalization'. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Official Visit — A government minister visits the couple during the denormalization phase. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Authority Submission Test — Jean-Michel is humiliated during a test of his submissiveness to authority. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Revolt Inside The Chamber
Teenage terrorists invade with fake weapons and invite the couple to rebel. Surveillance equipment is unplugged and the chamber is covered with graffiti.
Key Events
Teenage Invasion — A group of teenage terrorists invades the experiment chamber with fake weapons. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Rebellion Proposal — The teenagers ask the couple to play along and rebel against the experiment. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Surveillance Shutdown — The couple participates in unplugging the surveillance equipment. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Graffiti Rebellion — The experiment chamber walls are covered with graffiti. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
A Broadcast Without Escape
Negotiations unfold as the teenagers demand television airtime. The couple appears in a filmed message before being expelled without explanation.
Key Events
Hostage Negotiation — A hostage team is sent to negotiate with the invading teenagers. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Television Airtime Demand — The teenagers demand television airtime in exchange for releasing the couple. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Couple Films Message — Jean-Michel and Claudine appear together in a short video made by the teenagers. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Experiment chamber
Unexplained Expulsion — The couple is evicted without explanation as the teenagers and sociologists walk away. Characters: Jean-Michel, ClaudineLocation: Test facility
Story Breakdown
Future City Experiment — The couple is recruited as a social prototype for a future society.
Model Couple Selection — Jean-Michel and Claudine are chosen as the heterosexual model couple.
Facility Arrival — They enter the controlled environment where the experiment will occur.
Surveillance Regime — The experiment converts ordinary life into continuous observation and evaluation.
Constant Monitoring — The couple is watched and rated throughout the experiment.
Product Testing — They evaluate state-of-the-art consumer products.
Domestic Alienation — Artificial routines erode the couple's patience and emotional stability.
Routine Distortion — Daily activities unfold in increasingly alienating circumstances.
Couple Irritation — Jean-Michel and Claudine become irritated with each other and the experiment.
Public Experiment Spectacle — Media attention and official visits turn the experiment into a public performance.
Media Speculation — Talk shows and news reports speculate about the experiment.
Authority Testing — Jean-Michel is humiliated during a test of submission to authority.
Chamber Rebellion — The invasion creates a temporary alliance between the teenagers and the test subjects.
Teenage Invasion — Teenage terrorists enter the chamber with fake weapons.
Surveillance Shutdown — The couple helps unplug the surveillance equipment and deface the chamber.
Televised Confrontation — The rebellion becomes a hostage crisis shaped by demands for media access.
Hostage Negotiation — A hostage team negotiates with the invading teenagers.
Filmed Message — Jean-Michel and Claudine appear in a short video made by the teenagers.
Unexplained Removal — The experiment ends without clarification, leaving the couple displaced and its meaning unresolved.
Couple Evicted — Jean-Michel and Claudine are expelled from the experiment.
Ambiguous Departure — The teenagers and sociologists walk away without explaining the outcome.
In 1977 France, the Ministry of the Future chooses two “normal,” white, middle-class citizens, Claudine and Jean-Michel, for a national experiment. They will be monitored and displayed on television for six months in a model apartment outfitted with state-of-the-art products and nonstop surveillance—the template for “a new city for the new man".
