From the moment Douglas Quaid {Arnold Schwarzenegger} is strapped into an elaborate device at Rekall Inc. for a "virtual vacation" on Mars, director Paul Verhoeven leads you down two separate paths: is this all happening in Quaid's mind (as Rekall Inc. has promised)... or has something gone horribly wrong in reality? Quaid's vacation on Mars becomes an action/adventure involving the sinister Vilos Cohaagen's {Ronny Cox} financially motivated plot to control the oxygen supply of Mars; his wife Lori {Sharon Stone} who is suddenly trying to kill him; and the unbelievable discovery that he (Quaid) used to be some kind of spy named Hauser, and Cohaagen has assassins after him. Reality and fantasy become indistinguishable from each other, both for Quaid/Hauser and the viewer, as Quaid pursues his dream of being a superhero who can save an entire planet.