Donald wakes up in the future, takes one look around at the chaos, smiles, and says: "This is a lot like my old apartment." The implication: society hasn't devolved into idiocy by chance—it has been deliberately engineered by the kind of selfish, shortsighted people Donald represents. He will fit right in.
The film opens in 2005 with U.S. Army Librarian Corporal Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson). Joe is a perfectly average, unassuming, and slightly apathetic man. He likes beer, football, and his routine. He is selected for a top-secret military "Human Hibernation Project" alongside a prostitute named Rita (Maya Rudolph), due to her similarly "average" psychological profile. idiocracy full film
500 years later, the hibernation pods automatically thaw out. Joe and Rita crawl to the surface of a unrecognizable America. The world they find is a dystopian nightmare of rampant stupidity, consumerism, and environmental collapse. Donald wakes up in the future, takes one
The epilogue shows a revitalized (but still very stupid) America. Joe and Rita have fallen in love and have a family. Joe becomes the most revered leader in history, eventually having his face carved onto Mount Rushmore (which now includes him, Camacho, and two other bizarre figures). Army Librarian Corporal Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson)
However, the final scene delivers the film’s darkest punchline. Back in the hibernation lab in 2005, another pod is found. It opens, revealing the man who was originally supposed to be the "most average" subject: a defense attorney named Donald. He was swapped out at the last minute by Joe because "that guy was an asshole."
He and Rita are arrested for "not having tattoos" (tribal tattoos are mandatory) and sent to a rehabilitation facility. There, Joe explains his situation to a gurney-obsessed doctor and eventually meets President Camacho.
