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The CinemaSins take on V for Vendetta points out that Evey leaves her apartment around 11pm, half an hour after curfew began, and calls this out as a very stupid decision, as it gets her into trouble very quickly.

Thinking about it, I don't really understand why she chose to do this. In the graphic novel, she left after curfew on purpose, as she was (trying to get) involved in prostitution. However, this is not the case in the movie - instead, she was on her way to a date with Gordon Deitrich, so I don't see a good reason why she'd leave after curfew.

Was curfew just not considered a big deal (a later scene shows many people leaving their houses to see V's "fireworks")? Did Gordon purposely ask to meet so late, as to test her, since he intended to reveal to her his views which were considered anti-government?

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    Because adaptation failure.
    – cde
    Oct 24, 2016 at 1:25
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    I agree with cde. Most likely, the writers/producers didn't want to include the bit about prostitution (particularly because this character is a protagonist.) So, they made up a new and thoroughly unimaginative reason for her to leave her home, without regard for the fact that it was after curfew and therefore not something a law-abiding citizen would have done. Regarding the fireworks, large, sudden and unexpected explosions have a way of making people forget about The Rules. :)
    – Steve-O
    Nov 15, 2016 at 4:29
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    @cde: It's not too far-fetched to consider this a subtle nod to Evey's inherently rebellious nature (while still intently avoiding the prostitution angle which I do believe you're correct in identifying). Most protagonists who change during the plot tend to show initial hints of that new behavior/conviction. Bruce Wayne detests crime before becoming Batman. Frodo wants to know what's beyond the Shire before embarking on his journey. Anakin was not as lawful good as Jedi are expected to be. Evey had at least some disregard for the strict rules, even if only subconscious.
    – Flater
    May 17, 2019 at 10:26

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She's late for her "date". Presumably, she considers meeting with Gordon Dietrich important enough to risk violating curfew to go see him. Either important because showing up could help her career/standing, or simply because not showing up would jeopardise all that. She's already got connections to "seditious elements" (her parents) so any protection is probably worth a lot to her.

Evey is basically doing the same as someone who's driving over the speed limit to get to an important meeting.

As for the "seriousness" of the curfew: There's a saying that locks only keep the honest out. Or, in this case, curfew only really keeps law-abiding people in. Obviously, people are a lot more scared and cowed in this dystopian England, but there are going to be some risk-takers here and there. Try locking all of London up in their homes, and see how many sneak out anyway.

Besides, the Fingermen can't be everywhere in London at all times, so I imagine it's not unheard of for people to sneak around. Even Evey doesn't immediately assume that the men she runs into are Fingermen; it's only when one shows his badge, that it really sinks in. So it seems it's not unheard of for people to be out after curfew.

In the comic, Evey is also out after curfew. And she's trying to solicit a man, not running late for meeting someone. Here too she doesn't assume that he's a Fingerman, implying that she expects to find regular people out despite curfew. It's probably not the most savory characters who'd be out, but still.

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  • Please also note that quite probably Evey didn't live far from Gordon - she walks out in high heels, which suggests that she has relatively short distance to cross - going past curfew is a calculated risk but in the end not so big one.
    – Yasskier
    Mar 27, 2017 at 0:42
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Agree entirely with all said above, but from what I can remember she does not appear to have intended leaving that late and is surprised and stressed when she sees the time. With other disgusting pigs at the BTN (Prothero) and Gordon's proclamation that 'men in his position' were expected to entertain young ladies, perhaps there was a prevailing culture of misogyny and without her knowing Gordon so well at this point in the story, she may have been naive enough to believe that she may be in as much trouble for providing a no show at his house than she would be with the 'finger' for breaking curfew. The fingermen show that they can assault people with impunity, perhaps there may have also been an element of this 'untouchable - ness' with the head honchos at the BTN. Please forgive anything here that is considered complete speculation, it is my first contribution to this site and I have tried to answer in a fashion that is consistent with what I observed when watching the movie. Ultimately it is still a convoluted explanation to get her out after dark without resorting to the prostitution plot point of the comic.

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