In Nightmute, Alaska, teenager Kay Connell is found beaten to death, her body scrubbed of forensic evidence and dumped naked in a landfill. At the request of the local chief, LAPD detectives Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart are sent to assist with the investigation. Ellie Burr, a young local detective who idolizes Dormer, is assigned as their guide. They question Kay's abusive boyfriend Randy Stetz, who admits he discovered Kay had a secret admirer but could not force her to reveal his identity. In private, Eckhart admits he is being pressured by an Internal Affairs investigation and will testify against Dormer in exchange for immunity. Kay's backpack is discovered at a shack near the coast and Dormer uses it to set a trap, but this backfires and the suspect flees into a heavy fog, shooting an officer in the leg. Giving pursuit, Dormer spots an unidentifiable figure and fires at them with his backup weapon after his sidearm jams. Grabbing a.38 caliber pistol the suspect dropped, Dormer rushes to the figure and discovers he has shot and killed Eckhart. The police assign blame to the suspect and Dormer does not dissuade them, knowing Internal Affairs will never believe the shooting was an accident due to Eckhart's pending testimony. Burr is assigned to the shooting investigation and finds the.38 bullet that pierced the officer's leg. That night, Dormer fires the.38 into an animal carcass, then retrieves and cleans the bullet. At the morgue, the pathologist gives him the 9 mm caliber bullet from Eckhart's body, which she doesn't recognize as very few people in the area own pistols. Dormer replaces it with the.38 bullet. When Burr believes the case is closed, however, Dormer's conscience refuses to let him sign off and he tells her to do another review, which causes her to notice inconsistencies in his statement. Dormer becomes plagued by insomnia, brought on by his guilt and further exacerbated by the perpetual daylight. He begins receiving phone calls from the killer, who witnessed Dormer shoot his partner. Questioning her estranged best friend, Dormer learns Kay was a fan of local crime writer Walter Finch, and realizes he was her secret admirer based on the alias she gave him. Dormer goes to Finch's apartment in a nearby village and breaks in, hiding the.38 in a heating vent. Returning home, Finch realizes someone is inside and escapes after a chase. Finch contacts Dormer again and arranges a public meeting on a ferry. Finch wants help shifting suspicion to Randy, offering to stay silent about the Eckhart shooting in return. Attempting to dissuade him from this, Dormer tells Finch he can't hide his relationship with Kay and gives advice on handling the inevitable police questioning. As Finch leaves the ferry, he reveals he has recorded the conversation. In another phone call, Finch admits he flew into a blind rage after Kay laughed at his romantic advances, stressing that her death was "an accident." Having lied that he lost the gun, Dormer suggests Kay's dress would be sufficient evidence to implicate Randy. The next day, Finch is questioned and mentions that Kay described Randy's abuse to him in her letters. Finch then claims Randy threatened Kay with a gun, and Dormer realizes his trap has again failed. Randy is arrested when the.38 is found in his house. Finch asks Burr to come to his lake house the next day to collect Kay's letters. Returning to the cabin, Burr discovers a 9mm shell casing. She reads her police academy thesis about one of Dormer's cases and realizes he carries a 9mm as a backup weapon. After trashing his room in an attempt to block the sunlight coming through the window, Dormer confides in the hotel clerk about the Internal Affairs investigation: he fabricated evidence against a pedophile he was certain had murdered one of his victims, and the conviction (among many others) would have been overturned had Eckhart testified. When he tries to justify this to himself, the clerk asks him if it's something he's willing to live with. Dormer breaks into Finch's apartment again and discovers Kay's letters. Realizing Burr is being lured into a trap, he rushes to Finch's lake house, where Finch reveals he has Kay's dress before knocking Burr unconscious. Dormer arrives and confronts Finch, but is disorientated from lack of sleep and overpowered before Burr revives and drives Finch off. She tells Dormer she knows he shot Eckhart, and he admits he is no longer certain it was an accident. Finch retrieves a shotgun from his boathouse and begins shooting; Burr returns fire while Dormer outflanks Finch. In a struggle Dormer wrestles the shotgun away, but Finch draws Burr's gun and they shoot each other, resulting in both of them being respectively wounded and killed. Attempting to comfort the mortally wounded Dormer, Burr moves to throw away the shell casing that proves his guilt. Dormer stops her, telling her not to lose her way as he did, before dying.

Hero incorporates multiple (and competing) narratives relating to the planned assassination of Ying Zheng, who will become the first emperor, Qin Shihuang.: 280 As the narratives develop and the would-be assassin (Nameless) comes closer to his target, the emperor is portrayed in an increasingly sympathetic way, going from a cruel tyrant to a compassionate, strong, and solitary figure.: 280 During the Warring States period, Nameless, a Qin prefect, arrives at the Qin capital city to meet the king, who has survived multiple assassination attempts by Long Sky, Flying Snow, and Broken Sword. Implementing tight security, the king forbids visitors from approaching within 100 paces. Nameless asserts he has killed the assassins, displaying their weapons. Impressed, the king permits Nameless to approach within ten paces to share his story. Nameless recounts killing Sky at a gaming house before meeting Flying Snow and Broken Sword at a calligraphy school in a city besieged by the Qin army. Seeking to learn Sword's skill, he commissions a calligraphy scroll with the character for "Sword" (劍). Nameless learns of Snow and Sword's strained relationship. Upon completing the scroll, Nameless reveals his identity and the truth about Snow and Sky's relationship. He challenges Snow to a duel. Meanwhile, a heartbroken and furious Sword engages in a tryst with his pupil, Moon. Snow kills Sword in retaliation, and Moon when she seeks vengeance. The following day, Nameless slays an emotionally unstable Snow before the Qin army, seizing her sword. As the story wraps up, the king doubts Nameless, alleging he orchestrated the duels with the assassins. During the previous attempt, the king saw Sword as honorable, doubting his betrayal of Snow. The king suggests the assassins sacrificed themselves to earn Nameless the king's trust, enabling him to get close and assassinate the king. In the king's version of the story, Nameless approaches Snow and Sword after staging a battle with Sky. He claims to have mastered a technique to kill anyone within ten paces, including the king. To get close to the king, Nameless needs to present one of their weapons. Snow and Sword argue over who should sacrifice themselves, leading to a brief scuffle where Snow injures Sword. Snow faces Nameless before the Qin army, while Sword, still recovering, watches. Snow is defeated, and Moon later gives Nameless her master's sword, suggesting that the swords of Snow and Sword should remain united even in death. Nameless admits possessing the special technique the king mentioned but insists the King underestimated Sword. He reveals the technique's dual nature: deadly yet capable of appearing fatal while avoiding vital organs. Nameless used it on Sky, then orchestrated a fake duel with Snow and Sword. Snow agrees, but Sword refuses. Snow accuses Sword of squandering their chance three years prior when he spared the king of Qin during their assault. In anger, she attacks Sword, wounding him with Nameless's aid. The following day, Nameless "kills" Snow before the Qin army. Later, Sword reveals to Nameless his decision to spare the king, expressing his desire for a unified, peaceful China achievable only through the king's leadership. Sending Nameless to the Qin capital, Sword inscribes " All Under Heaven " (天下) in the sand, urging reconsideration of assassination. Touched by Sword's understanding and the tale, the king overcomes his fear of Nameless. He relinquishes his sword, examines Sword's scroll, and grasps the concept that an ideal warrior should lack the desire to kill. Moved by this wisdom, Nameless abandons his mission, sparing the king. When Snow discovers that Sword persuaded Nameless to abandon the assassination, she angrily confronts Sword, which escalates into a duel. Hoping that Snow will grasp his love for her, Sword refuses to defend himself, and is accidentally killed by Snow. Consumed by grief, Snow commits suicide. Despite the king's reluctance, he orders Nameless's execution to uphold the law and set an example for national unity. Nameless is honored with a hero's funeral.

In New York City, during the late 21st century, genetically altered humans live side by side with aliens and other beings, with the former lording over the latter and treating them as second class citizens. These beings have come to Earth as refugees via the "inclusion zone", a mysterious vortex which appeared one day, encompassing Central Park and sealing it off. The forcefield allows the refugees to exit, but anyone who tries to enter is instantly killed. A strange pyramid appears hovering over the city. Within, the gods of ancient Egypt discuss their fellow god Horus and conclude that his rebellious antics are unacceptable and must be punished, sentencing him to lose his immortality and summarily be executed. They grant Horus seven days to "look upon his creation", and inform him that the only way to save himself is to reincarnate in a new body. However, the only way to do this is to find and mate with a compatible woman capable of carrying a god's child, a trait which is extremely rare. In the city below, Jill, a young woman with blue hair and a fey countenance, is captured by agents of the all-powerful corrupt eugenics company that controls much of the government and private sector, who kidnap the alien refugees to experiment on them. She is humanoid in appearance, but not quite human; her tears are blue and stain her pure white skin, and upon being examined by the company's scientists, it is discovered that her body's cells are no more than three months old despite looking and acting like a fully grown adult. Unbeknownst to the scientists, Jill is a bioengineered being, explaining her human-like appearance and unusual paranormal abilities. One of these abilities is the aforementioned capacity to procreate with gods, but she is unaware of this, nor is she aware that she was created explicitly for this purpose. Her genome is rapidly adapting and changing into that of a regular human, with the tradeoff being that she will lose all memories of her former self once the transformation is complete. One of the scientists, Dr. Elma Turner, is fascinated by Jill's unique physiology and becomes enamored with her, subsequently helping facilitate her escape. Elsewhere, Horus begins his search for a mate, but time is short as not only is his execution looming, but Jill herself will lose her unique ability to bear his child once she becomes fully human. He must inhabit a mortal body to perform this task, but quickly finds that anyone he tries to possess self destructs in a gruesome manner. He deduces that humankind has become incompatible due to their genetic modification, and are thus incapable of handling his godly presence within them. Desperate to find a suitable host body, Horus eventually encounters Nikopol, a political rebel condemned to thirty years of hibernation who, due to a mechanical accident, escapes his imprisonment one year early when the wall of the cryo-prison crumbles. Nikopol, having been in cryostasis for several decades, has remained unmodified, and thus is able to be a host body for Horus to inhabit, much to Nikopol's chagrin. Horus possesses Nikopol's body but fails to take full control of him, causing the two to frequently clash with one another. Nikopol, having lost his leg as a result of the prison toppling, is given a replacement by Horus which he fashioned out of some steel railway track, with the comical side effect that it is too heavy for Nikopol to move on his own when he is in control of his body. Together, the two set out to fulfill Horus's quest. Nikopol and Horus eventually find Jill, and Horus begins to put his plan in motion by seducing her as Nikopol. Nikopol takes umbrage with this, decrying Horus's actions as sexual assault, which Horus thinks is merely a necessity and not wrong, as he is a god and therefore anything he does is, by definition, morally just. Nikopol begins to fall in love with Jill, further complicating matters. Meanwhile, a police inspector is investigating a series of serial killings in which the bodies of seemingly random individuals appear to have been torn apart from the inside out. The victims are the remains of the previous hosts Horus tried to inhabit, and Nikopol as well as Jill become suspects. Nikopol/Horus must woo Jill while simultaneously trying to keep her safe from the eugenics corporation, as well as staying one step ahead of the police. Eventually, Horus is successful and impregnates her in the nick of time, giving Nikopol's body back and leaving a parting gift by granting him the ability to move his heavy metal leg on his own. A year later, Nikopol bumps into a now fully human Jill in Paris with her new baby, a blue falcon who Jill describes as "cheeky". She does not remember him, but the two strike up a conversation, hinting that they may one day rekindle their romance. As the film ends, the camera pans up to the pyramid ship where Horus is entombed in a sarcophagus, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

Abandoned by her husband, recovering drug addict Kathy Nicolo, living alone in a small house near the San Francisco Bay Area, ignores eviction notices erroneously sent to her for nonpayment of business taxes. Assuming the misunderstanding was cleared up, she is surprised when Sheriff's Deputy Lester Burdon arrives to forcibly evict her. Telling Kathy that her home is to be auctioned off, Lester feels sympathy for her, helps her move out, and advises her to seek legal assistance to regain her house. Former Imperial Iranian Army colonel Massoud Behrani, who fled his homeland with his family, now lives in the Bay Area working multiple menial jobs. Living beyond his means, he maintains the façade of a respectable businessman so as not to shame his wife Nadereh, son Esmail, and daughter Soraya. He buys Kathy's house for a quarter of its actual value, intending to improve and sell it. Kathy is evicted from the motel she is staying in. With nowhere else to go, she spends the night in her car. Seeing the renovations and how the Behranis have settled in makes her determined to get her house back and she finds an attorney, Connie Walsh, who assures her that because of the county's mistake, they will return Massoud's money and restore the house to her. Massoud, having already spent money on improving the house, is unwilling to accept anything less than the higher value of the property, which the county refuses to pay. Connie advises Kathy that her only option is now to sue the county, though it will take months. Kathy tries to convince Massoud to sell back the house; he too advises her to sue the county and promises to sell her the house back if she comes up with the money, but she retaliates by beginning to harass him and his family in front of potential buyers. Desperate for help, Kathy falls easily into an affair with Lester, who abandons his wife and children and fashions himself as Kathy's protector. Under a pseudonym, Lester threatens to have Massoud and his family deported if he refuses to sell the house back to the county. Aware that Lester was acting on Kathy's behalf, Massoud reports this to Internal Affairs, who severely reprimand Lester, and furiously warns Kathy to leave his family alone. Kathy calls her brother Frank for help, but cannot bring herself to admit that she is homeless. Despondent, Kathy becomes drunk and attempts suicide in the driveway with Lester's sidearm. Massoud finds Kathy drunkenly unable to discharge the gun, and brings her inside. Kathy tries to kill herself again with pills, but Nadereh saves her. As she and her husband carry Kathy to the bedroom, Lester breaks in and sees Kathy unconscious. In a xenophobic rage, Lester locks the Behranis in their own bathroom, refusing to let them out until Massoud agrees to relinquish the house. Massoud offers to sell the house and will give Kathy the money in exchange for her putting the house in his name. Lester takes Massoud to the county office to finalize the transaction. Outside the office, Lester begins to manhandle Massoud and Esmail seizes Lester's gun and aims it at him. Massoud grabs Lester and begins calling for help from nearby police officers, but they misinterpret the situation and shoot Esmail instead of Lester. Massoud is arrested but is released after Lester confesses to his crimes and is detained. Massoud begs God to save his son but Esmail does not survive. Believing they have nothing left to live for and to spare his wife the pain of losing her son, Massoud kills Nadereh by lacing her tea with pills. He then dons his old military uniform, tapes a plastic dust cover over his head, and asphyxiates himself while clutching his wife's hand. Kathy discovers the couple and frantically attempts to resuscitate Massoud but she is too late. As the bodies of Massoud and Nadereh are taken away by paramedics, a policeman asks Kathy if the house is hers. After a long pause, she admits that it is not.

The film begins with an introduction that highlights its interactive aspect and introduces the Oogieloves: Goobie, Zoozie, and Toofie. The Oogieloves wake to prepare a surprise birthday party for their living pillow Schluufy, with the aid of magical window Windy Window, vacuum cleaner J. Edgar and grumpy pet fish Ruffy. However, J. Edgar accidentally releases the five magical balloons they bought for the party, so the Oogieloves set out to retrieve them with Ruffy. The first balloon is found at the treehouse home of Dotty Rounder, who is obsessed with circles and polka dots, and her granddaughter Jubilee, who is obsessed with squares. The second is found at the milkshake cafe of Milky Marvin, who is holding a milkshake-drinking contest to win the second balloon in which the Oogieloves and their fish participate. The third balloon is found in possession of Rosalie Rosebud, a pop singer who denies her allergy to roses. The fourth balloon is tied to the truck of Bobby Wobbly, a bubble-selling cowboy with an unusual walk. The last balloon is found on top of a windmill, where the Oogieloves retrieve it with the help of Lola and Lero Sombrero, who ride a giant flying sombrero. Just before they reach home with all the balloons, the Oogieloves accidentally release them again but blow kisses to persuade them to return. They then hold the surprise party for Schluufy, who did not wake until just before their return.

Best friends Marie and Alex are on their way to stay at Alex's parents' house for the weekend to study. Upon arriving, Alex gives Marie a tour of her house, then they have dinner and go to bed. While the family sleeps, Marie stays awake in the guest bedroom, listening to music and masturbating. Marie hears a doorbell ring and Alex's father Daniel answers it. A man slashes Daniel's face with a straight razor, presses him between two staircase spindles, and shoves a bookcase towards his head, decapitating him. Alex's mother, awakened by the noise, finds Daniel dead and is approached by the killer. Marie, hearing the mother's screams, rearranges the guest bedroom to conceal her presence, and hides under her bed. The killer inspects Marie's room but does not find her. Marie creeps downstairs and finds Alex chained in her bedroom. Promising to find help, Marie sneaks into the parents' room to find a phone. After hearing loud thuds, she hides in the closet and witnesses the killer murdering Alex's mother by slashing her throat with a razor. Alex's younger brother Tom runs from the house to the cornfield, pursued by the killer. Marie returns to Alex, where she witnesses Tom's murder from a window. Marie promises to free Alex, but the killer is heard returning. Marie sneaks into the kitchen and takes a butcher knife. Alex is dragged into the killer's truck while Marie sneaks into it and hides there with Alex. He locks them in and drives off. When the killer stops at a gas station, Marie gives Alex the knife and sneaks in for help. Inside, Marie witnesses the store clerk being murdered with an axe. As the killer drives away, Marie calls the police but hangs up when she's unable to tell them where she is. Marie takes the clerk's keys and uses his car to follow the killer down a deserted road. Noticing Marie tailing him, the killer rams Marie's vehicle, pushing the car off the road. Badly injured, Marie runs into the forest as the killer seeks her. Eventually, Marie bludgeons the killer with a fence post covered in barbed wire. As Marie inspects the body, he grabs at her throat, so Marie suffocates him with a plastic sheet. As Marie makes her way back to the truck, Alex seems terrified of her. Meanwhile, police at the gas station watch security camera footage, which shows Marie murdering the store clerk. It is revealed that Marie is murderous, delusional, and obsessed with Alex, being responsible for all the murders. At the truck, Marie unties Alex. As soon as Alex is free, she threatens Marie with the knife and accuses her of butchering her family. Alex slashes Marie's face and stabs her in the stomach before running into the forest. Marie chases Alex with a concrete saw. Alex finds a road and flags down a car. As Alex is climbing into the car, Marie appears brandishing the concrete saw and disembowels the driver. A stray piece of glass slices Alex's Achilles tendon. Alex takes a crowbar from the car's toolbox and crawls along the road. Marie forces Alex to tell her that she loves her, and she kisses her. While engaged in the kiss, Alex plunges the crowbar into Marie's upper-chest as Marie proclaims she'll never let anyone come between them. Sometime later, Marie is in a psychiatric hospital room chained to her bed, with Alex watching her through a one-way mirror. Marie grins and reaches for Alex, seemingly aware that she is behind it.

Russia, early 1990s. Sergei Mamontov is looking for where to apply himself and his intellect. And so he orders a mock-up of a security paper with imperial script, rich ornament, watermarks and his own portrait in the center. An active advertising campaign begins. A little more than two weeks is enough to make people line up for the "mamontovs" ("mamontovki" in Russian). Powerful bankers and state structures are in confusion – no one has a clue how to stop it, and the MMM has already accumulated more than 10 million investors. Furthermore, Mamontov is concerned that there are no rich people in the country, and all Soviet industry is exposed to privatization. He accumulates "private greeds" and decides to carry out an honest privatization. His way is blocked by the agent of Western imperialism - Belyavsky (an allusion to Boris Berezovsky) with his MegaVAZ-bank (an allusion to LogoVAZ). Belyavsky comes from the top - he makes connections in the Kremlin and is in charge of television. Belyavsky proposes to share Russia. Mamontov refuses: "I do not trade with Russia!", which attracts the financial inspectorate, who, without checking documents, imposes unthinkable demands for paying taxes upon him, which Mamontov executes. There is still enough money to ruin the bank of Belyavsky. In the country by that time are already 20 million investors and every week the number increases by a million, the "mamontov's" goes on par with ruble. Mamontov threatens to seize power with the help of investors who are facing ruin. During a one-minute audience with the President, Mamontov appears as a guardian for the state amid a corrupt environment and asks for a change in the law - to allow foreigners to be involved in their financial system in order to subordinate the Western oligarchy and thereby make Boris Yeltsin 's Russia leader of the world. But Belyavsky begins to threaten the life of Mamontov's daughter and he eventually falls into a trap. On the Ostankino Tower, the battered Mamontov again refuses to cooperate with Belyavsky, despite the proposed opportunity to become the "head of state". Mamontov hopes to leave with his daughter, defending himself by having a recording of a conversation with a representative of the FCS (where he offered similar "privileges"), from his assistant Vera, but she, escaping from the people of Belyavsky, drops the recording in a park and on charges of non-payment of taxes, Mamontov gets in prison and comes out after 7 years.

In Berkeley, California, in 1988, Mark O'Brien is a 38-year-old poet who is forced to live in an iron lung due to complications from polio. Due to his condition, he has never had sex. After unsuccessfully proposing to his caretaker Amanda, and sensing he may be near death, he decides he wants to lose his virginity. After consulting his priest, Father Brendan, he gets in touch with Cheryl Cohen-Greene, a professional sex surrogate. She tells him they will have no more than six sessions together. They begin their sessions, but soon it is clear that they are developing romantic feelings for each other. Cheryl's husband, who loves her deeply, fights to suppress his jealousy, at first withholding a love poem that Mark has sent by mail to Cheryl, which she eventually finds. After several attempts, Mark and Cheryl are able to have mutually satisfying sex, but decide to cut the sessions short on account of their burgeoning feelings. One day sometime later, the power goes out in the building in which Mark lives, causing the iron lung to stop functioning and making it necessary for Mark to be rushed to the hospital. However, he survives and meets a young woman named Susan Fernbach. The film then cuts to Mark's funeral, held sometime later in 1999, and attended by four of the women he came to know and care for, including Cheryl. Father Brendan gives the homily and Susan reads the poem he had previously sent Cheryl.

During the Second World War, Eric Lomax is a British officer who is captured by the Japanese in Singapore and sent to a Japanese POW camp, where he is forced to work on the Thai- Burma Railway north of the Malay Peninsula. During his time in the camp as one of the Far East prisoners of war, Lomax is tortured by the Kempeitai (military secret police) for building a radio receiver from spare parts. The torture depicted includes beatings, food deprivation and waterboarding. Apparently, he had fallen under suspicion of being a spy, for supposedly using the British news broadcast receiver as a transmitter of military intelligence. In fact, however, his only intention had been to use the device as a morale booster for himself and his fellow prisoner-slaves. Lomax and his surviving comrades are finally rescued by the British Army. Thirty years later, Lomax is still suffering the psychological trauma of his wartime experiences, though strongly supported by his wife, Patricia, whom he had met on one of his many train excursions, a true railway enthusiast. His best friend and fellow ex-POW Finlay brings him evidence that one of their captors, an interpreter for the Japanese secret police Takashi Nagase, is now working as a tourist guide in the very camp where he interpreted for the Kempetai as they tortured British POWs. Before Lomax can act on this information, Finlay, unable to handle his memories of his experiences, commits suicide by hanging himself from a bridge. Lomax travels alone to Thailand and returns to the scene of his torture to confront Nagase “in an attempt to let go of a lifetime of bitterness and hate”. When he finally confronts his former captor, Lomax first questions him in the same way Nagase and his men had interrogated him years before. The situation builds up to the point where Lomax prepares to smash Nagase's arm, using a club and a clamp designed by the Japanese for that purpose and now used as war exhibits. Out of guilt, Nagase does not resist, but Lomax redirects the blow at the last moment. Lomax threatens to cut Nagase's throat and finally pushes him into a bamboo cage, of the kind in which Lomax and many other POWs had been placed as punishment. Nagase soon reveals that the Japanese (including himself) were brainwashed into thinking the war would be a victorious one for them, and that he never knew about the high casualties caused by the Imperial Japanese Army. Lomax finally frees Nagase, throws his knife into the nearby river and returns to Britain. After receiving a heartfelt letter from Nagase confessing his feelings of guilt, Lomax returns, with Patricia, to Thailand. He meets Nagase once again, and in an emotional scene the two accept each other's apologies and embrace. The epilogue relates that Nagase and Eric remained friends until Nagase's death in 2011 and Eric's one year later.

In the near future, the world has become a totalitarian state under the control of the Director (Steven Seagal). When Condor (Johnny Messner), an elite assassin, fails to terminate his target, he finds himself on the run from the organization that employs him. Condor is sent on a mission and fails due to his emotional instability and the Director has him go into a sleep state to fix him, but he escapes after learning he is going to be killed either way. It ends where Condor kills the Director, who is actually a robot copy, and the real Director comes out to plan his own attack against Condor as the screen goes dark.

Self-made millionaire businessman Thomas Crown is a handsome, dashing, cultured adrenaline junkie. Out of boredom, he masterminds a five-man heist of $2.66 million from a Boston bank, with the getaway driver dumping the money in a quiet cemetery trash can. None of the men ever meet Crown face to face, nor know or meet each other before the robbery. Crown retrieves the money after secretly trailing the drop. He deposits it into a numbered bank account in Geneva over several trips to avoid drawing undue attention to his actions. Independent investigator Vicki Anderson is contracted by the bank's insurance company to investigate the heist; she will receive 10% of the stolen money if she recovers it. Speculating that whoever planned the robbery was familiar with the bank's routines because he had an account there, and that the stolen money has been spirited to Switzerland, Vicki and the police draw up a list of bank customers who have made several recent trips to Geneva. When she sees Crown's profile on the list, she intuitively recognizes him as capable of orchestrating the robbery, and shortly thereafter guesses the cellular method that he used to organize the robbers. Growing closer to her quarry, Vicki makes it clear to Crown that she knows he is the thief and that she intends to prove it. A game of cat and mouse ensues, which spurs both a physical and emotional attraction that soon evolves into an affair. This complicates Vicki's vow to find the money and help detective friend Eddy Malone bring the perpetrator to justice. A reward offer entices the wife of the getaway driver, Erwin Weaver, to inform on him for $25,000. Vicki finds out that he was hired by a man he never saw but whose voice he heard (via a microphone). She tries placing Erwin in the same room as Crown, but there is no hint of recognition on either's part. While Vicki is clearly closing in on Crown, even using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as leverage against his liquid assets, he forces her to realize the extent of her conflicted emotions. When she seemingly persuades him to negotiate an end, Malone stubbornly refuses to make any deal, leaving her torn between the men, her convictions, and her heart. Crown organizes another robbery exactly like the first with different accomplices and tells Vicki where the "drop" will be, because he has to know for sure that she is on his side. The robbery goes off like clockwork. Choosing her loyalty, Vicki and the police stake out the cemetery, where they watch one of the robbers make the drop, then lie in wait to ambush Crown. However, when his Rolls-Royce arrives, he has sent a messenger in his place, with a telegram inviting her to either bring the money and join him or to keep the car as a consolation prize. Reflexively smiling at his eluding her trap, she soon realizes she had revealed her hand yet gained nothing in return. Tearing the telegram to bits, she strews the pieces to the wind, tearfully staring at the sky while Crown escapes unruffled overhead.

Carrying out his first order, inexperienced hitman Ray shoots a priest during confession, but accidentally kills an altar boy standing in the line of fire. He and his mentor Ken are sent by their boss, Harry, to hide in Bruges, where they are to sightsee and await further instruction. Ken finds the city beautiful and relaxing, while Ray is bored and hates it. They chance upon a film shoot involving a dwarf actor, which amuses Ray. Ray is attracted to Chloë, a local drug dealer moonlighting as a production assistant. He takes her to a restaurant, where he gets into an argument with a Canadian couple over smoking indoors and punches them. Chloë takes Ray to her apartment where they begin to have foreplay, but her ex-boyfriend Eirik appears and threatens Ray with a handgun. Ray effortlessly disarms the small-time criminal and fires the gun, loaded with blanks, in Eirik's face, blinding him in one eye. Chloë admits that she and Eirik rob tourists, but insists she had told Eirik that Ray was not a target. As Chloë drives Eirik to the hospital, Ray pockets the gun and helps himself to a handful of live rounds as well as Chloë's stash of drugs. He and Ken spend a debauched night with the dwarf actor, Jimmy, who takes cocaine and rants about a coming war between blacks and whites. Harry calls Ken and reveals that the trip was an attempt to give Ray a good experience before he dies. He orders Ken to kill Ray, on the principle that killing a child, even accidentally, is unforgivable. With a handgun supplied by Harry's local contact Yuri, Ken tracks Ray to a park and reluctantly prepares to kill him. Ray, however, distraught at his killing of the boy, prepares to kill himself with Eirik's loaded gun. Seeing this, Ken stops Ray, informs him of Harry's order and tells him to leave Bruges to have a fresh start. He gives Ray some money and puts him on a train to another city, while confiscating his gun to prevent a further suicide attempt. Ken phones Harry to tell him the truth, and Harry immediately sets out for Bruges, furious at the insubordination. He picks up a gun and a box of dumdum bullets at Yuri's, and Eirik, Yuri's son, learns of his intention. Meanwhile, police stop Ray's train in the Belgian countryside; they detain Ray for attacking the Canadians and escort him back to Bruges. Chloë bails him out and the two share a drink on the market square beneath the Belfry of Bruges. Meanwhile, Harry spots Ken at a café. As the two have drinks, Harry boasts that if he himself had killed a child, he would have immediately taken his own life. Ken argues that Ray is trying to better himself and deserves a chance at redemption, but Harry is not convinced. Ken suggests they ascend the bell tower for a shootout away from bystanders. At the top, Ken says he accepts whatever punishment Harry intends. A conflicted Harry cannot bring himself to kill Ken, so he shoots him in the leg as punishment for not killing Ray. Eirik crosses the market square and sees Ray and Chloë on a date. He runs up the tower to inform Harry, who is helping Ken down the stairs. Ken tries to disarm Harry, but Harry shoots Ken in the neck before rushing down the tower. Bleeding heavily, Ken drags himself back to the top of the tower and jumps from it to reach Ray first. Ken warns Ray with his dying breath, but his gun is broken during the fall, forcing Ray back to the hotel to retrieve his own. Harry chases Ray to the hotel; Marie, the pregnant owner, refuses Harry entry, even when he draws his gun. To protect the owner and her unborn child, Harry and Ray agree to continue the chase on a nearby canal. Ray jumps onto a passing barge, but loses Eirik's gun. Harry wounds Ray with a shot from a distance. Ray stumbles into the street where Jimmy's film is shooting; Jimmy is costumed as a schoolboy. Harry catches up and repeatedly shoots Ray with the dumdum bullets. One of the bullets hits Jimmy, blowing his head open. Harry mistakenly believes that he has killed a child and, despite protest from Ray, kills himself. As Ray is loaded into an ambulance, he reflects on the nature of hell, speculating that it is an eternity in the city of Bruges, and hopes desperately that he does not die.