The dystopian world depicted in presents a chilling vision of the future—a late 2020s society crippled by crisis. In this narrative setting, the once-unified United States lies fragmented, torn apart by relentless warfare and the onslaught of the deadly "St. Mary's Virus." Meanwhile, the European continent grapples with devastation, yet amid this chaos, one nation remains ostensibly stable—an authoritarian United Kingdom, under the iron grip of the fascist Norsefire party. It is a regime marked by totalitarian suppression, where political dissidents, immigrants, religious minorities, and other so-called "undesirables" are confined to concentration camps, embodying a societal dystopia firmly controlled by fear and oppression.

In this repressive environment emerges , whose very existence is steeped in resistance. Portrayed by Natalie Portman, Evey is the progeny of activists whose defiance against the state stems from profound personal tragedy—the loss of her brother in the notoriously politicized St. Mary's school bombing. Her parents' subsequent incarceration and deaths in prison left a twelve-year-old Evey with an enduring legacy of resistance. Her narrative intersects dramatically with that of the enigmatic vigilante known only as , brought to life by Hugo Weaving. One fateful night, as Evey inadvertently flouts curfew, she narrowly escapes a sexual assault by the "Fingermen," the state's covert police force, rescued by the masked V, who subsequently orchestrates the cinematic demolition of the Old Bailey courthouse, a fiery spectacle synchronized with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

The narrative continues to unravel as Inspector Finch, a character endowed with gritty realism by Stephen Rea, begins a relentless investigation into V's incendiary exploits. Meanwhile, the party’s propaganda machinery, via its state-controlled British Television Network (BTN), scrambles to downplay the uprising as a mere "emergency demolition." V, however, subverts their efforts by commandeering the network to articulately incite a nationwide call to arms, urging citizens to convene before the Parliament on the next Guy Fawkes Night, a date pregnant with symbolism. Amidst the chaos of the network’s hijacking, Evey finds herself inadvertently entangled in V's crusade, her unconscious body whisked away to his lair, sparing her an almost certain execution at the state’s hands.

In the safety of his refuge, V reveals a plan meticulously timed to culminate the following year. Evey’s reluctance and fear give way to a searing narrative of vengeance and revelation as she gradually becomes complicit in V’s targeted retribution against the regime’s key figures—an enterprise that sees the demise of Norsefire propagandist Lewis Prothero, alongside the morally bankrupt Bishop of London, Anthony Lilliman. The latter, a pedophile sheltering beneath the guise of piety, succumbs to V's justice with Evey as the unwitting bait in his downfall.

The plot escalates when Evey seeks asylum with Gordon Deitrich, her employer and confidant, portrayed with endearing complexity by Stephen Fry. In this haven, she uncovers the dual identity of a man whose public bravado as a womanizer conceals his true sexual orientation—an orientation that, if revealed, would warrant deadly reprisal from the state’s secret police, the "Finger." The stakes are heightened when Gordon opts to satirize the revered regime on his show, triggering a brutal crackdown that sees Evey imprisoned once more. The ensuing ordeal, however, unfolds as an elaborate masquerade orchestrated by V, designed to emancipate Evey from the shackles of fear through the rediscovery of Valerie Page’s poignant testament, a fellow inmate’s legacy that becomes a bridge of shared suffering and courage.

As Inspector Finch's inquiry progresses, a disconcerting portrait of governmental betrayal emerges. The past collides with the present when Finch uncovers the horrific truth—that V’s genesis lies in inhumane experiments at a state-sanctioned facility, a facility responsible for evolving viral weapons like the "St. Mary's Virus." This revelation, coupled with Finch’s unsettling encounter with the elusive William Rookwood—an alias frequently assumed by V—details the malicious orchestration of bioterrorism that fortified Norsefire’s political ascendancy, turning public terror into a warrant for absolute control.

Confronted with this harrowing history, Finch’s disillusionment sets the stage for the uprising that follows—even as V intensifies his stratagems with the distribution of Guy Fawkes masks, catalyzing a visceral, anonymous uprising across the nation. In parallel, V shares poignant, humanizing moments with Evey, encapsulating a complex duality of tenderness and tenacity. As the narrative races towards its explosive finale, V's ultimate gambit involves an eerie collusion with Peter Creedy, head of the secret police, to neutralize the entrenched Chancellor Sutler. Yet, V’s inexorable path dictates a fate he intends not to survive; his final battle culminates in Creedy's demise, a macabre chess game that ensures the obliteration of the regime’s central nexus.

V’s mortal sacrifice, punctuated by his poignant admission of love to Evey, carries forward the torch of liberation. As Evey places V's body upon the explosive-laden train, Inspector Finch, now a man awash with profound ethical introspection, refrains from obstruction, allowing Evey to execute what is ultimately a collective farewell to tyranny. In this climactic denouement, a vast throng of Londoners, masked and resolute, converges to bear witness. The destruction of Parliament serves not merely as an act of vengeance but a symphonic overture to renewal—fulfilling V’s legacy that is intrinsically woven with the peoples’ identity. When Finch queries V's identity, Evey’s response—"He was all of us"—resonates as a testament to unity, a reclamation of freedom reclaimed not by one man’s singularity but by the universal spirit of resistance.