Adapted from the bestselling dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood and with a screenplay by Harold Pinter The Handmaid s Tale stars Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall. In Atwood s nightmarish fable, the United States of America has become The Republic of Gilead, a right-wing totalitarian state. Women are subjugated and powerless in society. The world is rife with disease and infection, and few women remain who can have children: those who can are taken by the government, and christened handmaids . Kate, a handmaid, is sent to the house of Fred, the Commander. There she must submit to his demands, and those of Serena Joy, his jealous, vindictive wife. But some things cannot be controlled by The Republic - like Kate s growing feelings for The Commander s chauffeur Nick. Or the secret resistance, who meet under darkness. This chilling and memorable film retains all the power of Atwood s feminist classic, and is at once a stinging critique of a totalitarian society, and a moving story of one woman s fight for freedom.