To escape a stalker, Sawyer Valentini moves away from her Boston home. Still paranoid and traumatized, she talks with a counselor at Highland Creek Behavioral Center, who tricks her into signing a consent form for voluntary 24-hour admission to a locked psychiatric hospital. Sawyer calls the police, who can do nothing due to the signed form. During the night, stress causes Sawyer to lash out at a patient and a staff member. Consequently, the staff psychiatrist retains her for seven more days. Another patient, Nate Hoffman, reveals to Sawyer that Highland Creek is running a scheme to exploit health insurance claims. They trick people into voluntarily committing themselves as long as the patients' insurance companies continue to pay; when insurance claims run out, the patient is "cured" and released. One day, Sawyer sees David Strine, her stalker, working as an orderly under the pseudonym George Shaw. Borrowing Nate's secret cellphone, Sawyer calls her mother Angela. David gives Sawyer a large dose of methylphenidate, causing her to appear insane. That evening, when Angela arrives to attempt to get Sawyer out, David approaches her posing as a hotel employee, and kills her. David tortures Nate then kills him with an overdose of fentanyl. Sawyer finds Nate's phone under her pillow, with images of Nate badly beaten. She alerts the staff, who dismiss and put her in solitary confinement. David visits Sawyer and says he has a secluded mountain cabin he wants to take Sawyer to. Sawyer mocks him for his inexperience with women. David later returns and reveals he faked that Sawyer's insurance ran out, changing her status to released. In a forest, the body of the real George Shaw is found. To buy time, Sawyer feigns concern that David is a virgin, and that she does not want to be his first. She convinces David to have sex with another woman and suggests Violet, who previously threatened Sawyer with a shank, and he brings her to the solitary confinement cell. Sawyer uses Violet's shank to stab David in the neck and flees as he kills Violet. He recaptures Sawyer outside, and she wakes up in the trunk of his car next to her mother's corpse. Jumping from the moving car, Sawyer flees into the woods. David catches up and breaks her ankle with a hammer. Sawyer stabs him in the eye with Angela's cross and slashes his throat with the shank. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Nate was an undercover investigative journalist sent to investigate Highland Creek. Police execute a warrant on the center and arrest the hospital administrator. Six months later, while having lunch, Sawyer sees David sitting nearby. She approaches with a knife, but upon realizing it is not him, she drops the knife and runs away.

Joe Banks is a downtrodden everyman from Staten Island, working a clerical job in a dreary factory for an unpleasant, demanding boss, Frank Waturi. Joyless, listless and chronically sick, Banks regularly visits doctors who can find nothing wrong with him. Finally, Dr. Ellison diagnoses an incurable disease called a "brain cloud", which has no symptoms, but will kill him within five or six months. Ellison says that the symptoms he has been experiencing are actually psychosomatic, caused by trauma in his previous job as a firefighter. Ellison advises him to live the few remaining months of his life well. Joe tells his boss off, quits his job, and asks former coworker DeDe out on a date. Their date is a success, but when Joe tells DeDe that he is dying, she tells him she cannot deal with the revelation and leaves. The next day, a wealthy industrialist named Samuel Graynamore makes Joe an unexpected proposition. Graynamore needs "bubaru", a mineral essential for manufacturing superconductors. There are deposits of it on the tiny Pacific island of Waponi Woo, but the resident Waponis will only let him mine it if he solves a problem for them. They believe that the fire god of the volcano on their island must be appeased by a voluntary human sacrifice once every century, but none of them are willing to volunteer this time around. Graynamore offers to pay for whatever Joe wants to enjoy his final days, as long as he jumps into the volcano within 20 days. With nothing to lose, Joe accepts. Joe spends a day and a night out on the town in New York City, where he solicits advice on everything from style to living life to the fullest from his chauffeur, Marshall. He also purchases four top-of-the-line, waterproof steamer trunks from a fanatically dedicated luggage salesman. Joe then flies to Los Angeles, where he is met by one of Graynamore's daughters, Angelica, a flighty socialite. The next morning, Angelica takes Joe to her father's yacht, the Tweedledee. The captain is her half-sister Patricia. Patricia has reluctantly agreed to take Joe to Waponi Woo; Graynamore has promised to give her the yacht in return. After an awkward beginning, Joe and Patricia begin to bond. Then they run into a typhoon. Patricia is knocked unconscious and flung overboard. After Joe jumps in to rescue her, lightning strikes, sinking the yacht. Joe is able to construct a raft by lashing together his steamer trunks. Patricia does not regain consciousness for several days. Joe doles out the small supply of fresh water to her, while he gradually becomes delirious from thirst. He experiences a revelation during his delirium and thanks God for his life. When Patricia finally awakens, she is deeply touched by Joe's self-sacrifice. They then find that they have luckily drifted to their destination. The Waponis treat them to a grand feast. Their leader, Chief Tobi, asks one last time if anyone else will volunteer, but there are no takers and Joe heads to the volcano. Patricia tries to stop him, declaring her love for him. He admits he loves her as well, "but the timing stinks." Patricia persuades Joe to have the chief marry them. Afterwards, Patricia refuses to be separated from her new husband. When Joe is unable to dissuade her, they jump in together, but the volcano erupts at that moment, blowing them out into the ocean. The island sinks, but Joe and Patricia land near Joe's trusty steamer trunks. At first ecstatic about their miraculous salvation, Joe tells Patricia about his fatal brain cloud. She recognizes the name of Joe's doctor as that of her father's crony and realizes that Joe has been set up. He is not dying and they can live happily ever after.

In 1983, a highly realistic adult amusement park called Delos features three themed "worlds" — Western World (the American Old West), Medieval World (medieval Europe) and Roman World (the ancient city of Pompeii). The resort's worlds are populated with lifelike androids that are practically indistinguishable from human beings, each programmed in character for their historical environment. For $1,000 per day, guests may indulge in any adventure with the android population of the park, including sexual encounters and simulated fights to the death. Peter Martin, a first-time Delos visitor and his friend John Blane, on a repeat visit, go to Westworld. One of the attractions is the Gunslinger, an android whose programming allows guests to participate in gunfights using firearms that prevent them from shooting organic beings. After a night spent with two android prostitutes, John is accosted by the gunslinger Peter killed in the saloon the previous day and Peter once again shoots the android gunslinger dead. Peter is jailed for killing the gunslinger until John breaks him out. During their escape from town, a robotic rattlesnake bites John. The technicians running Delos notice the androids in Roman World and Medieval World experiencing various breakdowns and systemic failures, which may have also spread to Westworld. A serving wench android refuses a guest's advances in Medieval World and the failures escalate until Medieval World's Black Knight android kills a guest in a sword fight. The resort's supervisors try to regain control, but shutting down power to the park traps them in central control. The androids in all three worlds run amok, killing guests while operating on reserve power. Peter and John, recovering from a drunken bar-room brawl, wake up in Westworld's brothel, unaware of the park's breakdown. When the Gunslinger challenges them to a showdown in the street, John treats the confrontation as an amusement, but the android shoots him dead. Peter runs for his life through other areas of the park, pursued by the android. He encounters dead guests, damaged androids and a panicked technician attempting to escape Delos, who is killed by the Gunslinger. Peter descends into the underground control complex, finding the computer technicians asphyxiated. The Gunslinger stalks him into an underground android-repair laboratory. Peter pretends to be an android awaiting repairs, throws acid into the Gunslinger's face, and escapes to the surface inside the Medieval World castle. With damaged optical inputs, the Gunslinger tracks Peter using infrared scanners. Peter discovers burning torches mask his presence, and he sets the Gunslinger on fire and leaves it to burn. Peter encounters a chained woman in a dungeon, but giving her water causes her to short-circuit, revealing her to be an android. The burned shell of the Gunslinger attacks him once again before succumbing to its damage. Peter collapses on the dungeon steps, exhausted and shocked, as the memory of Delos' marketing slogan resonates: "Boy, have we got a vacation for you!"

An unnamed young man lives an ethereal existence that lacks transitions between everyday events and eventually progresses toward an existential crisis. He observes quietly but later participates actively in philosophical discussions involving other characters—ranging from quirky scholars and artists to everyday restaurant-goers and friends—about such issues as metaphysics, free will, social philosophy, and the meaning of life. Other scenes do not include the protagonist but rather focus on an isolated person, a group of people, or a couple engaging in such topics from a disembodied perspective. Along the way, the film also touches upon existentialism, situationist politics, posthumanity, the film theory of André Bazin, and lucid dreaming, and references various intellectual and literary figures by name. Gradually, the protagonist realizes that he is living out a perpetual dream, broken up only by occasional false awakenings. So far, he is mostly a passive onlooker, though this changes during a chat with a passing woman who suddenly approaches him. After she greets him and shares her creative ideas with him, he reminds himself that she is a figment of his own dreaming imagination. Afterward, he starts to converse more openly with other dream characters, but begins to despair about being trapped in a dream. The protagonist's final talk is with a character (played by Linklater) whom he briefly encountered earlier in the film. This conversation reveals this other character's view that reality may be only a single instant that a person interprets falsely as time (and, thus, life); that living is simply the person's constant negation of God's invitation to become one with the universe; that dreams offer a glimpse into the infinite nature of reality; and that to be free from the illusion called life, one need only accept God's invitation. The protagonist is last seen walking into a driveway, when he suddenly begins to levitate, paralleling a scene at the start of the film of a floating boy in the same driveway. The protagonist uncertainly reaches for a car door handle but is too swiftly lifted above the vehicle and over the trees. He rises into the endless blue expanse of the sky until he disappears from view.

Con artist Marla Grayson makes a living by convincing the justice system to grant her guardianship over elders who she pretends cannot take care of themselves. She places them in an assisted living facility, where they are sedated and lose contact with the outside world. She then sells off their homes and assets, pocketing the proceeds. She and the court deny a man, Mr. Feldstrom, access to his mother after he attempts to force his way into the facility. He later threatens her outside the courthouse, saying that he hopes she is killed. Dr. Karen Amos informs Marla about a potential case, a wealthy retiree named Jennifer Peterson with no apparent husband or close family. A judge appoints Marla guardian after she and Dr. Amos falsely testify that Jennifer has dementia, confusion, and loss of mobility. Marla moves Jennifer into assisted living and gets to work selling Jennifer's furniture, car, and home. While rooting through Jennifer's possessions, Marla discovers the key to a safe deposit box. It contains a watch, gold bars, bank notes, and hidden, loose diamonds, which she takes and stashes away. As Marla's girlfriend and business partner, Fran, oversees the renovation of the house, a cab arrives driven by Alexi Ignatyev, who says he is there to pick up Jennifer. Fran says that Jennifer has moved. Alexi returns to his employer, Roman Lunyov, distressed. Roman, a crime lord, is revealed to be Jennifer's son. He threatens Alexi and orders him to find his mother and report back. Mafia lawyer Dean Ericson offers to pay Marla $150,000 in cash to release Jennifer but she refuses, willing to do it only if she is paid $5 million. He threatens Marla and takes her to court. The judge dismisses the case as Ericson cannot prove Jennifer hired him. Fran discovers "Jennifer Peterson" is an identity stolen from an infant who died of polio. When Jennifer refuses to tell Marla her real identity, Marla teams up with property manager Sam Rice and withdraws filling many of Jennifer's basic needs. Finding his mother's safe deposit box rifled, Roman sends three thugs to Jennifer's facility to take her. This effort fails, and Marla helps police apprehend Alexi, who is one of the men. Fran's police contact tells them that Alexi is the sibling of two other mafia bosses who supposedly died in a fire. Having failed to rescue his mother, Roman has Dr. Amos killed at her office. After hearing this news, Marla and Fran move into an unsold property of a previous victim. Jennifer is baited into attacking Marla when she visits the facility and is moved to a psychiatric ward. Marla is tranquilized and kidnapped while Fran is attacked in their home. Marla is taken to Roman and demands $10 million to arrange Jennifer's release. He refuses, and his associates knock her out with chloroform and send her in a car into a lake. She escapes and returns home to find Fran beaten unconscious as gas fills the house. They escape an explosion and flee to another unsold property. Marla shows Fran the diamonds she has hidden there. She offers Fran a choice: they can use the diamonds to start a new life elsewhere, or they can get revenge. Marla and Fran track down Roman and kidnap him. They force drugs into his body, burn his car, and leave him on a forest trail. He will be discovered high on drugs and with no identification. Roman is discovered by a jogger, and is rescued. With no identity, Roman is designated a "John Doe" by a judge, who appoints Marla as Roman's legal guardian. Marla visits Roman and offers to release him and Jennifer from her guardianship for $10 million. Instead, Roman offers her a partnership in a global business based on her scam. She accepts and, using his money and connections, becomes a powerful, wealthy CEO. Roman is reunited with Jennifer, while Marla marries Fran. While leaving a TV interview, Marla is shot by Feldstrom. He says that his mother died alone in the facility because no one would let him see her. As Feldstrom is arrested, Fran cries out for help as Marla bleeds to death in her arms.

Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged European professor of French literature, arrives in Ramsdale, New Hampshire, searching for summer accommodation before his professorship begins at Beardsley College, Ohio. Charlotte Haze, a sexually frustrated widow, offers him a room to rent at her house. Initially uninterested, Humbert changes his mind when he sees Charlotte's young daughter Dolores, nicknamed "Lolita", and is immediately smitten with her. Wanting Humbert's time for herself, Charlotte sends Dolores to an all-girl summer camp. After the Hazes depart for camp, the maid gives Humbert a love confession letter from Charlotte demanding that he vacate immediately, unless he reciprocates and marries her. Despite laughing while reading the letter, Humbert stays and marries Charlotte. In Lolita's absence, Humbert becomes withdrawn, and Charlotte grows unfulfilled and upset. She discovers Humbert's diary detailing his passion for Dolores and his contempt for Charlotte. Distraught, she runs outside, is hit by a car and dies. Humbert is visited by Charlotte's friends, who mistake his apathy with suicidal ideation and reveal that she had little time left anyway, since nephritis affected her single kidney. Humbert picks up Dolores from camp, telling her that Charlotte is sick in a hospital. They stay overnight in a hotel hosting police convention attendees, and attract the attention of another guest. While Dolores sleeps upstairs, this stranger insinuates himself upon Humbert, presenting himself as a policeman and cryptically steering the conversation to Humbert and Dolores. The next morning, Dolores suggests to Humbert that they play a "game" she learned at camp, and it is implied that they have sex. Humbert later confesses to Dolores that her mother is dead. Grief-stricken, she stays with Humbert. The two commence a trip cross country, acting publicly as father and daughter. In the fall, Humbert initiates his position at Beardsley College and enrolls Dolores in high school there. A jealous Humbert worries about her involvement with male classmates and the lead she has been offered in the school play, and people grow curious about his protectiveness. One night, he returns home to find a stranger in his darkened living room. Claiming to be Dr. Zempf, the psychologist from Dolores's school, he inquires about her knowledge of " the facts of life " and coerces Humbert into allowing her to participate in the school play. During a performance of the play, Humbert learns that Dolores has been lying about spending Saturday afternoons at piano practice. They have an argument and Humbert decides to take Dolores on the road again. Dolores objects at first, but seemingly changes her mind after making a surreptitious phone call. Once on the road, Humbert realizes that they are being followed by a car. Dolores falls ill and he takes her to the hospital. One night, a mysterious call to his motel room prompts Humbert to visit the hospital in order to discharge Dolores, but he is told that she already left with a man claiming to be her uncle. Humbert is devastated. Three years later, he receives a letter from Dolores, now pregnant, married to an unemployed and half-deaf mechanic, and in need of money. Humbert visits her and asks who had kidnapped her from the hospital. She says that it was Clare Quilty, a famous playwright and the intrusive stranger who kept crossing their path all along, disguising himself as a policeman and later Dr. Zempf. Dolores was infatuated with Quilty ever since his fling with Charlotte years ago, and carried on an affair with him at Beardsley. She left the hospital with him when he promised her a Hollywood contract. Instead, he secluded her in a dude ranch near Santa Fe and demanded that she join his depraved lifestyle and act in his child pornography, which she refused. Humbert begs Dolores to leave with him. She refuses, on account of her new predicament, but apologizes for cheating. Humbert gives Dolores $13,000, her money from the sale of Charlotte's house. He then leaves to confront Quilty in his mansion at gunpoint. A drunk Quilty tries to dodge the situation with bizarre offers (including an invitation to attend executions), but is shot dead by Humbert. A postscript reveals that Humbert later died of coronary thrombosis awaiting trial for Quilty's murder.

While on vacation near El Paso, Texas, Michael, Margaret, their young daughter Debbie, and their dog, Peppy, drive through the desert in search of the Valley Lodge. Margaret insists they are lost, and Michael claims they are not. They are stopped by a local deputy for a broken taillight, and released because Michael asks him for mercy on their "first vacation". After driving through farmland and the desert, the family reaches a house. The satyr -like Torgo is caretaker "while the Master is away". Michael and Margaret ask Torgo for directions to the Valley Lodge, which Torgo denies knowing. Frustrated, Michael asks Torgo to let him and his family stay the night, despite objections from both Torgo and Margaret. Inside the house, Michael and Margaret find a painting of the Master and a dog with glowing eyes. A howl frightens Margaret; Peppy breaks away from Debbie and runs outside. Michael investigates with a flashlight and revolver from his car and finds Peppy lying dead on the ground. Michael buries the dog in the desert and returns to the house. Meanwhile, Torgo reveals his attraction to Margaret and wants to keep her, defying the Master's desire to marry her. Margaret threatens to tell Michael of Torgo's advances. However, Torgo convinces Margaret not to say anything by promising to protect her. Michael cannot start the car. Torgo tells them there is no phone in the house, so the family decides to stay the night. Torgo secretly watches Margaret changing her clothes. Michael and Margaret find Debbie is gone and start looking for her, going outside and shouting Debbie’s name. Debbie returns, holding the leash of the dog from the painting. Following Debbie, Michael and Margaret stumble upon the Master and his wives, sleeping around a blazing fire. The wives are dressed in nightgowns, the Master in a robe with two red hands on it. Margaret and Debbie run back to the house to get their things and escape. As Michael runs behind them, Torgo uses a stick to knock him out and then ties him to a pole. The Master awakens and summons his wives, announcing that Michael must be sacrificed to the deity Manos, and that Margaret and Debbie will become his new wives. He leaves. The wives argue with each other about whether Debbie should become one of them or also be sacrificed. This turns into a catfight, where the wives tumble around in the dirt. The Master returns, breaks up the fight and decides to sacrifice Torgo and his first wife instead. Meanwhile, Michael wakes up, unties himself and returns to the house to collect Margaret and Debbie. The family runs off into the desert to escape. The Master summons Torgo and hypnotizes him, ordering the wives to kill him. Two of the wives attack Torgo with their hands, causing him to fall to the ground, seemingly dead. However, he later regains consciousness and stands up. The Master severs and burns Torgo's left hand. Torgo runs off into the darkness with his stump of a wrist in flames, and the Master sacrifices his first wife. As Michael, Margaret and Debbie run through the desert, Margaret falls and says she cannot go any farther. A rattlesnake appears and Michael shoots it, the noise attracting the attention of the deputies, who assume the noises came from Mexico due to the large desert echoes and leave it at that. Margaret convinces Michael to return to the house, as the cult would never think to look for them there. They go back and find the Master and his dog waiting for them. The Master steps towards them, and Michael fires his gun in shock, to no effect. Some time later, two women starting their vacation drive through a rainstorm, searching for shelter. When they find the Master's house, the entranced Michael greets them, saying "I am Michael, I take care of the place while The Master is away." Margaret and Debbie have become wives of the Master, and all are asleep.

In order to cast the world into eternal night, the Lord of Darkness sends the goblin Blix to kill the unicorns in the forest near his castle and bring him their horns. Told by Darkness that the best bait is Innocence, Blix and her colleagues Pox and Blunder follow Princess Lili as she visits her forest-dwelling paramour, Jack O' the Green. Jack teaches Lili to speak to animals, then takes her blindfolded to a forest stream where the unicorns frolic. Despite Jack's fervent warnings not to do so, Lili holds out her hand to touch the stallion. This act allows Blix to shoot him with a poison dart from her blowpipe and the unicorns flee. Jack is angry, but Lili laughs off his concern and issues a challenge by throwing her ring into a pond, declaring she will marry whoever finds it. While Jack dives in after the ring, the goblins track down the poisoned stallion and sever his horn, causing winter to descend. Lili runs off in terror, and Jack is barely able to break through the surface of the now-frozen pond. Lili takes refuge in a peasant cottage, where she sees the goblins test the horn's magic powers and overhears how she was the bait in their slaying of the stallion. She follows the goblins to a rendezvous with Darkness, who tells them the world cannot be cast into eternal night as long as the surviving mare still lives. Blunder unsuccessfully tries using the horn to overthrow Darkness and is sent into the castle's dungeon. Meanwhile, Jack, accompanied by forest elf Honeythorn Gump, will-o'-the-wisp Fairy Oona, and dwarves Brown Tom and Screwball, finds the mare mourning the lifeless stallion. Jack begs forgiveness from the mare, who communicates to him that the horn must be recovered and returned to the stallion by a great hero. Deciding Jack is that hero, the group leaves Brown Tom to guard the unicorns while they retrieve a hidden cache of ancient weapons and armor. In their absence, Lili warns Brown Tom of the goblins coming back to kill the mare. He is then incapacitated by the goblins, who capture both Lili and the mare. Upon returning, Jack and his group make their way to Darkness' castle. On the way, they are attacked by a swamp hag named Meg Mucklebones, but Jack defeats her by flattering her appearance and then decapitating her. At the castle, Jack's group falls into an underground prison cell where they encounter Blunder, who is revealed to be a dwarf gone astray, before he is dragged off by an ogre to be baked into a pie, and Oona, forced to reveal she is a fairy, retrieves the keys to free the others. Darkness realizes that even he is touched by Lili's innocence and releases her to wander the castle. He leaves lavish gifts for her, including an enchanted, dancing dress that hypnotizes her. Revealing himself, he asks her to marry him. She resists, but then agrees on the condition that she will be the one to kill the mare in the upcoming ritual. Overhearing their conversation, Jack and Gump learn Darkness can be destroyed by daylight. After saving Blunder, the group takes the ogres' giant metal platters as makeshift mirrors to reflect sunlight into the sacrificial chamber. As the ritual begins, Lili frees the mare and Darkness strikes her unconscious. Jack fights Darkness, wounding him with the stallion's horn right before the redirected light of the sunset shines into the room, blasting Darkness to the edge of the void. Darkness warns them that because evil lurks in all beings, he will never truly be vanquished. Wavering in doubt, Jack finally severs the hand of Darkness, expelling him into the void. Gump then returns the stallion to life by magically reattaching its horn. With the stallion and mare reunited, winter immediately ends. Jack retrieves Lili's ring from the pond and places it on her finger, waking her from Darkness's spell.

On June 19, 1987, as the Earth crosses the tail of a rogue comet, Rhea-M, previously inanimate machines spring to life; an ATM insults a customer (Stephen King) and a bascule bridge rises during heavy traffic, causing all vehicles upon the bridge to fall into the river or collide. Chaos sets in as machines begin attacking humans worldwide automatically. At the Dixie Boy Truck Stop outside Wilmington, North Carolina, employee Duncan Keller is blinded after a gas pump sprays diesel in his eyes. After an electric knife injures waitress Wanda June and arcade machines in the back room electrocute a customer, cook and paroled ex-convict Bill Robinson begins to suspect foul play. Meanwhile, at a Little League game, a vending machine kills the coach by firing canned soda at him. A driverless road roller flattens a fleeing child, while Duncan's son Deke escapes on his bike. Newlyweds Connie and Curtis discover a corpse at a roadside gas station, but escape in their car when a tow truck attempts to kill Curtis. Meanwhile, humans and pets are murdered by lawnmowers, chainsaws, electric hair dryers, pocket radios, RC cars and an ice cream truck. At the Dixie Boy, a garbage truck kills Duncan when he departs to search for Deke, and a truck sporting a giant fiberglass Green Goblin mask on its grille slams bible salesman Camp Loman into a ditch. Later, big rig trucks encircle the truck stop. Connie and Curtis outmaneuver a semi-truck, causing it to crash off the side of the road and explode. They arrive at the fortified truck stop, where it is safer than out in the open. As they try to pass between the trucks, their car is hit and overturned. Bill and hitchhiker Brett Graham rush to help them before the trucks attack. The owner Bubba Hendershot uses M72 LAW rockets he had stored in a bunker hidden under the diner to destroy many of the trucks. Deke later arrives at the Dixie Boy and attempts entrance via the sewers, but is obstructed by the wire mesh covering the opening. That night, the survivors hear Loman screaming, and Bill and Curtis sneak out via the sewers to help him. Deke discovers Loman, believing him dead, but he awakens and attacks Deke. Bill and Curtis rescue Deke and determine that Loman is indeed dead, but a truck then chases them back into the pipe. The next morning, a bulldozer and a platform truck drive to the truck stop. The angered Hendershot uses the rocket launcher to blow up the bulldozer but only succeeds in blowing its roof off, but the platform truck fires its post-mounted machine gun into the building, killing many including him and Wanda. The truck then demands, via sending morse code signals through its horn that Deke deciphers, that the humans pump the trucks' diesel for them in exchange for their lives. As the survivors realize that their own machines have enslaved them, Bill suggests that they escape to Haven, an island off the coast, on which no motorized vehicles are permitted. While the crew rests, Bill theorizes that the comet is actually a "broom" operated by interstellar aliens that are using Earth's machines to destroy humanity so the aliens can repopulate the Earth. The next day, during a fueling operation, Bill sneaks a grenade onto the platform truck, destroying it, then leads the party out of the diner via a sewer hatch to the main road just as the trucks and the bulldozer demolish the entire building. As the remaining people approach the marina, the ice cream truck appears, but Brett and Curtis open fire and destroy it. The Green Goblin truck stalks them to the marina and kills Brad, a trucker distracted by a diamond ring on a corpse's finger. After Bill destroys it with a hit from a rocket shot, the survivors board a sailboat and set sail for Haven. Two days later, the machines go silent when a UFO hiding in the comet's tail is destroyed by a Soviet space platform disguised as a weather satellite, equipped with nuclear missiles and a laser cannon. Six days later, Earth passes out of the comet's tail, and the survivors are still alive.

Lorenzo is a bright and vibrant young boy living in the Comoro Islands, as his father Augusto Odone works for the World Bank and is stationed there. However, after relocating with his parents to the United States, he begins to show signs of neurological problems, such as falling, loss of hearing, tantrums, etc. The boy is diagnosed as having adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which is fatal within two years. Failing to find a doctor capable of treating their son's rare disease, Augusto and his wife, Michaela, set out on a mission to find a treatment to save their son. In their quest, the Odones clash with doctors, scientists and a support group that is skeptical that anything could be done about ALD, much less by laypeople. But they persist, setting up camp in medical libraries, reviewing animal experiments, enlisting the aid of Professor Gus Nikolais, badgering researchers, questioning top doctors all over the world and even organizing an international symposium about the disease. Despite research dead-ends, the horror of watching their son's health decline and being surrounded by skeptics (including the coordinators of the support group they attend), they persist until they finally hit upon a possible therapy. The Odones sponsor an international meeting of scientists doing research on ALD, requiring two conditions ahead of time. First they insist that the meeting focus on potential treatments and second, they require that they be allowed to participate, despite being non-scientist laypeople. The pivotal scene in the movie portrays this meeting, in which the scientists are presenting their research. When Dr. William B. Rizzo mentions his studies in which the addition of oleic acid to cultured cells blocked accumulation of the factors which cause ALD, the Odones jump into the conversation, asking if this oil might help their son. Although the scientists play down their hope, pointing out that it would take years of work to produce the oil and test in clinical trials, the Odones seize the promise of this possible curative treatment. As the scene ends, Michaela Odone is shown beginning the effort to find someone able and willing to produce the same oil Dr. Rizzo gave to his cells. They obtain oleic acid from an industrial manufacturer of lubricants, but this only lowers Lorenzo's levels by 50% before leveling off, and they realize they are only countering some of the shorter chains produced by one enzyme. To remove the other, they will have to add a distillation of erucic acid. They contact over 100 firms around the world until they find an elderly British chemist, Don Suddaby, who is working for Croda International and is willing to take on the challenge of distilling the proper formula. The Odones obtain a precious vial of the oil (actually containing two specific long chain fatty acids, isolated from rapeseed oil and olive oil) and add it to their son's diet. This treatment proves successful in normalizing the accumulation of the very long chain fatty acids (which had been causing their son's steady decline), as measured in blood levels. This treatment halts the progression of his disease and is dubbed "Lorenzo's Oil". This oil is soon found to be successful in preventing the progression of harm in other patients with ALD. Meanwhile, Lorenzo has a great deal of neurological damage, and the Odones are dismayed to see that the oil can reverse their son's symptoms only very, very slowly. The Odones realize that more rapid improvement of their son's severe condition will require treatments to repair the myelin sheath (a lipid insulator) around the nerves, and Augusto is shown taking on the new challenge of organizing biomedical efforts to heal myelin damage in patients. Lorenzo, at the age of 14, shows definite improvement (swallowing for himself and answering "yes" or "no" questions by blinking) and it is revealed that he has regained his sight, can move his head from side to side, vocalize simple sounds and is learning to use a computer. The movie ends with scenes of ALD patients who were treated with Lorenzo's Oil earlier in the course of their disease. In these patients, the devastating neurological degeneration from which Lorenzo suffered was prevented.

Fletcher Reede is a divorced defense lawyer living in Los Angeles who loves spending time with his young son, Max. However, he has a habit of giving inappropriate precedence to his career, breaking promises to Max and his ex-wife Audrey, and then lying about the reasons. After Fletcher misses Max's 5th birthday party when senior partner Miranda lures him into having sex in the office to land a promotion, Max makes a birthday wish for Fletcher to be honest for one day. Fletcher soon discovers that he is unable to lie, mislead, or withhold the truth. This alienates him from Miranda and his secretary Greta, gets his car impounded when he confesses all of his traffic infractions and unpaid parking tickets to a police officer, and causes him an inability to bend the truth in court. Fletcher's newest client is Samantha Cole, a gold digger who wants to get around a pre-nup with her soon-to-be ex-husband, Richard Cole. The main witness, Kenneth Falk, with whom Samantha has been cheating, is eager to lie when he takes the stand. However, Fletcher finds in court that his inability to lie includes not being able to suborn perjury. Meanwhile, Audrey is considering a move to Boston with Jerry, who proposed upon receiving a job offer there. Although they have not been together long, she accepts, to protect Max from future disappointments that Fletcher may cause him. Catching wind of Fletcher's inability to lie, Miranda tries to get him fired by baiting him into insulting Mr. Allan, a senior partner at the firm, but this fails when Mr. Allan and his board mistake Fletcher's accurate insults for lighthearted roasting. Fletcher tries to delay the case by staging an assault on himself in the men's room, but he is unable to lie his way into a continuance, specifically because his only possible grounds were, "I can't lie." Knowing that he cannot refute the proof of Samantha's adultery, her grousing accidentally reveals her real age. He successfully disputes the validity of her prenup, signed as a minor without parental consent. The judge rules Samantha is entitled to 50% of Richard's marital assets, allowing Fletcher to win the case truthfully. However, Samantha then pivots to demanding custody of their children for extra child support payments. Fletcher watches as she pulls her crying children out of Richard's arms. Horrified by the outcome his actions have caused, he overreacts and demands the decision be reversed. The judge thinks Fletcher is mocking him and holds him in contempt. Fletcher calls Audrey to bail him out, but she informs him that their plane leaves for Boston that night. Greta, realizing he turned over a new leaf, pays his bail. Fletcher rushes to the airport, but Audrey and Max's plane has left the gate. In desperation, he hijacks a mobile stairway to pursue the plane onto the runway. He keeps his promise to greet Max before takeoff, through a plane window, and gets the plane to stop but is injured. On a stretcher, Fletcher vows to Max that he will spend more time with him. He says that despite the fact that he is free to lie now that the 24 hours have elapsed, it feels clearer to be honest. Max believes him, and Audrey, encouraged by Jerry, decides to remain in California. One year later, Fletcher and Audrey are celebrating Max's 6th birthday. Max makes a birthday wish, only to find that Fletcher and Audrey are kissing when the lights come back on. Fletcher asks Max if he wished for them to get back together, but he says he only wished for rollerblades.

Lucy is an American studying in Taipei. Her new boyfriend Richard coerces her into delivering a briefcase containing four bags of the highly valuable synthetic drug CPH4 to Mr. Jang, a South Korean drug lord, at the Regent Taipei. After witnessing Richard being shot dead, she is captured and forced to become a drug mule. One bag of the drug is sewn into her abdomen for transport to Europe. She is kicked in the belly, breaking the bag and releasing a large quantity of the drug into her system. She acquires enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and negated emotions; she also ceases to feel pain. Using her new abilities, she kills her captors and escapes. Lucy travels to the nearby Tri-Service General Hospital to get the bag of drugs removed. She is told by the operating doctor that natural CPH4 is produced in tiny quantities by pregnant women during their sixth week of pregnancy to provide fetuses with the energy to develop. As her abilities continue to develop, Lucy returns to Mr. Jang's hotel, kills his bodyguards, assaults him, and telepathically extracts the locations of the drug mules who are carrying the three other bags of CPH4. Lucy contacts scientist Samuel Norman, whose research about the brain's capacity helps her understand her condition. Lucy demonstrates proof of her abilities to an amazed Norman and tells him she will die in 24 hours. When she asks what she should do with her newfound knowledge, Norman suggests she pass it on. Lucy agrees and flies to Paris to meet with him. She contacts local police captain Pierre Del Rio to help her find the other three drug mules. During the flight, she has a sip of champagne, which initiates a drug interaction that causes her cells to become unstable. To stave off this process, Lucy ingests more of the drug. With the help of Del Rio, Lucy is able to recover the rest of the drugs. Meeting Norman and his colleagues, she agrees to share with them everything she knows. In the professor's lab, Lucy discusses the nature of time and life and how people's humanity distorts their perceptions. At her urging, she is intravenously injected with the contents of all three remaining bags of CPH4. As Lucy's brain capacity begins to rapidly increase, her body changes into a black substance that begins spreading over computers and other electronic devices in the laboratory, combining with them and transforming into a single supercomputer. She mentally begins a journey through spacetime into the past, eventually reaching the oldest discovered ancestor of mankind, Lucy. She shares a quiet moment with Lucy and the two touch fingertips, before she goes all the way to the beginning of time and witnesses the Big Bang. Meanwhile, Jang enters the laboratory and points a gun at Lucy, whose body has reformed. He shoots at her head, but by that point Lucy has reached 100% of her brain capacity and promptly vanishes, moving into the space-time continuum. Only her clothes and the black supercomputer are left behind. Del Rio enters and fatally shoots Jang. Norman takes a black flash drive offered by the supercomputer, after which it, too, disintegrates. Del Rio asks Norman where Lucy is, immediately after which Del Rio's cell phone sounds and he sees a text message: "I am everywhere." Lucy's voice is heard stating "Life was given to us a billion years ago. Now you know what to do with it."