In
2054, John Anderton is a member of an experimental Washington, D.C.
police force known as Precrime, which uses future visions generated by
three "precogs", mutated humans with precognition abilities, to stop
murders. Due to the unit's actions, D.C. has been essentially
murder-free for six years. Though chief of the force, Anderton has been
addicted to an illegal psychoactive drug since the disappearance of his
son Sean, which also caused his wife Lara to leave him. With the
Precrime concept poised to go nationwide, the system is audited by
Danny Witwer, a member of the Department of Justice. During the audit,
the precogs predict that Anderton will murder a man named Leo Crow in
36 hours; believing the incident to be a setup by Witwer, who is aware
of Anderton's addiction, and given his own ignorance of Leo Crow's
existence prior to this point, Anderton attempts to hide the case and
quickly departs the area before Witwer begins a manhunt for him.
Anderton seeks the advice of Dr. Iris Hineman, the lead researcher of
the Precrime technology. She explains to Anderton that the three
precogs—the children of drug addicts using experimental drugs
years ago—may see different visions of the future. When this
happens, the system only provides data on the two reports which agree;
a "minority report", showing the futures where the perpetrators may not
have actually committed a murder, is discarded. According to Dr.
Hineman, the female precog Agatha is likely the one who witnesses the
minority reports.
Anderton has his eyes surgically replaced to avoid iris recognition
scanners before travelling back to Precrime and kidnapping Agatha. This
also disables the precogs' hive mind and prevents the system from being
used. Anderton takes Agatha to a hacker, who is able to extract both
Agatha's vision of Crow's murder—which reveals John's case
lacks a minority report—and another depicting the murder of a
woman named Anne Lively, which Agatha also showed to Anderton the day
before he was incriminated. In an attempt to outrun the police,
Anderton and Agatha end up at the apartment building where Crow is to
be killed. Anderton breaks into Crow's room and finds hundreds of
pictures of children, including his son, on Crow's bed, leading him to
conclude that Crow is the man responsible for Sean's disappearance.
When Crow arrives, Anderton holds him at gunpoint, but ultimately
decides to control his anger and place Crow under arrest. Crow admits
that he was hired to plant the photos and be killed so his family would
be paid handsomely; realizing Anderton will no longer kill him, Crow
grabs the officer's hand, making him fire at point-blank range, and
dies. After assessing Crow's "murder", Witwer doubts that Anderton
killed in cold blood, and approaches the Precrime division's director
Lamar Burgess. Witwer, who has also discovered Agatha's recording of
the Anne Lively murder, observes that someone must have manipulated the
system to fake the murder. However, taking advantage of the precogs'
temporary inability to operate, Burgess suddenly kills Witwer and
frames Anderton for Witwer's murder.
Anderton approaches his ex-wife Lara for refuge, and realizes that his
knowledge of the Lively case is why he is being targeted: Lively was
Agatha's mother, and shortly after her request to see her daughter
again, Lively was killed, despite an earlier attempt on her life
failing when it was predicted by the precogs. The Precrime unit
eventually captures Anderton and restores Agatha to the system. Burgess
attempts to comfort Lara, but accidentally reveals that he knows more
about Lively's death than implied. Lara uses this information to free
Anderton.
At a banquet to celebrate the success of the Precrime unit and Burgess,
Anderton plays Agatha's vision of the Lively murder for the gathered
crowd, clearly showing Burgess as the murderer. As Burgess sneaks off
to confront Anderton, a new precrime report is created: Anderton is the
victim and Burgess is the murderer. When Burgess finds Anderton,
Anderton says it's over and presents him with an no-win situation: if
Burgess kills Anderton, he proves the system works but at the cost of a
life sentence, while if he does not, the system will not have worked
and the Precrime division will be shut down. Anderton reveals the
fundamental flaw of the system: if one knows his or her own future, he
or she can change it. Burgess resolves the paradox by killing himself.
The Precrime program is shut down, all those jailed as a result of
Precrime are pardoned and released and the precogs are given the chance
to lead a full life. Anderton and Lara remarry and start a new family.
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