May Canady is a young woman working as a veterinary assistant. As a child, she endured bullying and ostracism due to her lazy eye; although her optometrist has fixed it via glasses and corrective lenses, May still struggles to connect with others socially in her adulthood. When May was a child, her mother made and gifted her a glass-encased doll named Suzie, giving her the advice "if you can't find a friend, make one" and instructing her to never remove Suzie from the case. As an adult, May maintains that Suzie is her only true friend. May becomes infatuated with a local mechanic named Adam, finding his hands especially attractive. She eventually introduces herself to him, and they begin to date. May's colleague, Polly, also shows an interest in her. One day, May remarks that Polly has a beautiful neck. During their flirtation, Polly gives May a cat named Lupe. May invites Adam to her apartment, where he shows her a short film, titled Jack and Jill, that he made while in college about two young lovers who go on a picnic and end up cannibalizing each other. May becomes aroused by the film. While passionately kissing, she bites Adam's lip, drawing blood. Disturbed, Adam abruptly leaves. Humiliated, May berates Suzie and shoves her into the cupboard. May begins volunteering at a day care center for blind children, where she takes a liking to a sullen young girl named Petey, who makes her a clay ashtray with May's name pressed into it. Feeling abandoned by Adam, May responds to Polly's advances and they start a relationship. May overhears Adam expressing disgust with her to his friends. Devastated, she visits Polly, but finds her with another woman named Ambrosia. At home, May seeks comfort from Lupe; when Lupe ignores her, May angrily throws Petey's ashtray at her, killing the cat and shattering the ashtray. May soon develops delusions that Suzie is talking to her. May takes Suzie to the day care center, introducing her to the children as her best friend. The children attempt to take Suzie out of her case despite May's protests, ultimately shattering the case, injuring themselves and May, and destroying the doll, much to May's distress. The following day, May meets a young punk and invites him to her house, where she notices and compliments a tattoo of Frankenstein's monster on his arm. Upon discovering Lupe's corpse in her freezer, he calls May a "freak". May breaks down and fatally stabs him in the head with scissors. After some contemplation, May determines that she needs "more parts". On Halloween, May, dressed in a homemade costume resembling Suzie, goes to Polly's house, where she slits Polly's throat with a pair of surgical scalpels and stabs Ambrosia in the temples. She then visits Adam and his new girlfriend, Hoop, at his house, murdering both of them with the scalpels. At home, she sculpts a life-sized patchwork doll out of the punk's arms, Polly's neck, Ambrosia's legs, Adam's hands, and Hoop's ears, using Lupe's fur as the hair. Using the shards of the ashtray to form an anagram, she names the doll "Amy". Realizing that Amy lacks eyes, May gouges out her lazy eye and places it into the doll's head. Shrieking in pain and bleeding, May repeatedly begs the doll to "see" her and collapses on the bed next to it. Her creation comes to life and caresses her face affectionately with Adam's hands, at which May smiles.

In April 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British frigate HMS Surprise is ambushed by the French privateer Acheron off Brazil, suffering heavy damage by cannon balls. After escaping by using rowboats to tow the ship into a nearby fog bank, Surprise ' s captain Jack Aubrey refuses to return home and insists on giving pursuit at any cost. Shortly afterwards, Surprise is again chased by Acheron by using a weather helm wind advantage; that night, Aubrey deploys a crude, lantern-lit decoy raft, sails a different course, and sends the Acheron going the wrong direction. Now in pursuit of the Acheron, the French ship attempts to lose them in a heavy storm at Cape Horn. Surprise nearly sinks, and Aubrey sacrifices popular crewmember Warley to save the ship as a whole. Escaping calamity, but losing the Acheron, Aubrey follows a hunch and changes course for the Galápagos Islands, where he suspects the enemy ship will be hunting British whalers. To make up for the mounting losses, Aubrey promises Surprise ' s surgeon and his close friend, Stephen Maturin, that he will become the first naturalist to explore the islands' unique flora and fauna. However, Surprise then hits the doldrums, becoming stuck with no wind. Drifting for days in the heat, the crew becomes restless and superstitious, and blame midshipman Hollom for their misfortunes; the men believe him to be a cursed "Jonah", and begin treating him poorly. Guilt-stricken, Hollom commits suicide in the night by jumping overboard with a cannonball. Mystically, the wind picks up the next morning, and Surprise resumes the chase. Arriving at the Galápagos Islands, the men are amazed by the wildlife. However, they quickly encounter marooned whalers who confirm Aubrey's suspicions; they were raided by the Acheron. Aubrey breaks his promise to Maturin and pursues the ship. As they depart, the captain of marines accidentally shoots Maturin in the abdomen while carelessly aiming at an albatross. Remorseful, Aubrey turns around, anchors at the Galápagos, and assists Maturin in performing self-surgery. Finally giving up his pursuit of Acheron, Aubrey grants Maturin the freedom to explore the Galápagos and gather specimens before they return to Portsmouth. While looking for the flightless cormorant, Maturin discovers Acheron anchored on the other side of the islands. He hurriedly returns to Surprise and informs Aubrey. Back onboard the ship, Maturin shows Aubrey a curious camouflaging phasmid disguised as a stick. Inspired, Aubrey orders his warship to become disguised as a vulnerable, unarmed whaler. The crew don disguises, paint over the ship's name, and plot an ambush. Acheron is successfully tricked, and is lured into an up-close raid. The Surprise reveals her flags, and dismasts the privateer with sudden cannon fire. Aubrey leads a boarding party onto the stalled Acheron and captures the ship after fierce hand-to-hand combat, with significant losses on both sides. Searching for the enemy captain, Aubrey finds the Acheron ' s surgeon, de Vigny, who informs him that his French counterpart has died; his last request was to give Aubrey his sword. Both ships are repaired to seaworthy condition by the crew of Surprise, whose first lieutenant Pullings is promoted to captain and ordered to sail Acheron to Valparaíso to parole their French captives. As Acheron sails away, Maturin mentions to Aubrey that de Vigny died from a fever months ago. Realizing that the "surgeon" was really the Acheron 's captain in one final ruse, Aubrey orders the crew of Surprise to reverse course and to beat to quarters in pursuit of the captured ship. Maturin is once again denied the chance to explore the Galápagos, but Aubrey wryly notes that since the bird he seeks is flightless, "it's not going anywhere." As is their recreational entertainment on the voyage, the officer duo joyfully plays their violin and cello in the Captain's cabin to Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid as Surprise pursues the captured Acheron once more.

An 18-year-old boy and his girlfriend walk home from church. The boy gets abducted and then stripped naked. When the boy's family paid the ransom, he was dumped on a highway with an ear cut off. In December 2003, former Force-Recon Marine and CIA SAD/SOG officer John Creasy travels to Mexico to visit his old friend Paul Rayburn, who convinces him to take a bodyguard position with Samuel Ramos, a wealthy Mexico City automaker. He needs protection for his young daughter, Lupita "Pita" Ramos, due to a kidnapping insurance policy that requires a bodyguard to be in place. Struggling with alcoholism and guilt from his past, Creasy attempts suicide with his own handgun, but a failed 9mm primer prompts him to eject the round, preserve it, and reconsider his fate. Revitalized by the thought that he is meant to live, he takes on his role as Pita's protector, reducing his drinking and finding solace in the Bible. As he bonds with the child, coaching her competitive swimming, their relationship flourishes. One day, while waiting outside Pita's piano lesson, Creasy recognizes a car that has been following them. As two federal policemen block the street, he realizes Pita is about to be kidnapped. Creasy engages the attackers, killing four but sustaining serious injuries while Pita is abducted. As authorities investigate, Creasy becomes a suspect, but Reforma reporter Mariana Garcia Guerrero questions the narrative. Federal police officer Miguel Manzano relocates him to a veterinary clinic to protect him from corrupt officials. The kidnappers, led by the unseen "Voice", demand a $10 million ransom, which Samuel complies with, aided by Police Lieutenant Victor Fuentes. However, when the ransom drop is ambushed and the Voice's nephew is killed, the Voice threatens the Ramos family, stating that it is "too late" and Pita will be lost forever as retribution. Manzano warns Creasy about the powerful "brotherhood" involved, composed of corrupt officials and criminals, and Creasy vows to kill everyone connected to the kidnapping. With Rayburn's help, Creasy assembles an arsenal and begins his quest for revenge. He brutally interrogates the getaway driver for information, leading him to confront several kidnappers and recover incriminating evidence. Garcia Guerrero discovers Fuentes's involvement in the brotherhood, prompting her and Manzano to assist Creasy in his mission. Creasy's rampage intensifies as he confronts Fuentes, learning that Samuel's lawyer, Jordan Kalfus, orchestrated the kidnapping to claim insurance money. Creasy arrives to confront Kalfus at his house but finds the lawyer's beheaded corpse floating in the pool. He then confronts Samuel about his involvement with the kidnapping and the ruse is revealed: Samuel and Kalfus agreed to orchestrate the kidnapping in order to pay off old debts belonging to the former's father. Both had expected Lupita to be safely returned by paying off the ransom with the remaining insurance money. However, the ambush by Fuentes caused the plan to collapse, with Samuel killing Kalfus in a rage. Despondent over this revelation, Creasy gives Samuel a gun and the bullet he once used in his suicide attempt. Samuel kills himself as Creasy leaves. Garcia Guerrero and Manzano trace the ransom money and uncover the Voice's identity. Creasy captures the Voice's brother, who shoots him during the melee. Creasy learns the ringleader's real name is Daniel Sanchez. They arrange an exchange for Pita, and during the meeting, Creasy, injured but determined, reassures her of his love before she is sent to safety. As Creasy is taken away to the Voice, he dies of his injuries en route; later that day, Manzano executes the Voice during the latter's arrest.

In response to a brief blackout at the FBI Cyber Division headquarters, FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman asks local law enforcement to bring in high-level computer hackers nationwide. NYPD Police Detective John McClane is assigned to pick up hacker Matt Farrell in New Jersey. After McClane arrives at Farrell's residence, assassins sent by Thomas Gabriel, a hacker and leader of cyberterrorists, attack them. McClane and Farrell manage to escape. As McClane and Farrell travel to Washington D.C., Farrell tells McClane he had written an algorithm for Mai Linh (Gabriel's girlfriend and co-conspirator) to crack a specific security system; he believed his work was being used for white hat purposes. Meanwhile, Gabriel orders his crew of hackers to take over transportation grids and the stock market while nationally broadcasting a threatening message to the U.S. government. Farrell realizes this is a "fire sale", a cyber attack designed to disable the nation's infrastructure. As McClane and Farrell are driven to DHS headquarters, Linh—posing as a dispatcher—reroutes them into a helicopter ambush. McClane fends off the attackers and destroys the helicopter. McClane asks Farrell what he thinks Gabriel's next move will be. Farrell deduces that Gabriel's next target will be the power grid. The two drive to a utility superstation in West Virginia and find it under the control of a team led by Linh. McClane and Farrell kill Linh's team. After a struggle, Linh and McClane end up in a vehicle that is stuck in an elevator shaft. McClane climbs out of the vehicle and escapes, but the vehicle falls to the bottom of the elevator shaft and explodes, killing Linh. Farrell traces Gabriel and uploads his picture to Bowman, who learns that Gabriel has orchestrated the fire sale. McClane learns that Bowman and Gabriel once worked together for the DOD as chief programmer. Gabriel warned the department about weaknesses that made America's network infrastructure vulnerable to cyberwarfare, but he was ignored and later fired for his unorthodox methods, so he is seeking revenge. Enraged over Linh's death, Gabriel redirects natural gas to the superstation and causes an explosion in another attempt to kill McClane and Farrell. The two barely escape, but the destruction of the facility causes a massive blackout throughout the Eastern Seaboard. McClane and Farrell travel by helicopter to the home of super hacker Frederick "Warlock" Kaludis in Baltimore. Warlock identifies the piece of code Farrell wrote for Linh as a means to access data at a Social Security Administration building at Woodlawn, Maryland. Doing a traceroute, Warlock locates Gabriel; he is at Woodlawn. McClane, Farrel, and Bowman discover that Woodlawn is actually an NSA facility intended to back up the nation's personal and financial records as a failsafe in the event of a cyber attack; it was designed by Gabriel himself. The blackout on the FBI was intended to trigger the download of the financial data to Woodlawn, and Gabriel plans to steal the data. Meanwhile, Gabriel orchestrates the kidnapping of McClane's estranged daughter, Lucy as a bargaining chip to threaten McClane. McClane and Farrell race to Woodlawn. The two are separated during the infiltration; Farrell finds the facility's main server and encrypts the data Gabriel's men downloaded before getting captured; and McClane kills more of Gabriel's men. Gabriel flees the building, taking Farrell and Lucy with him. McClane pursues them, hijacking their semi mobile base. Accessing the communication system of an F-35B Lightning II, Gabriel orders the pilot to attack the truck McClane is driving, but the jet is destroyed by falling debris. McClane survives the attack and sees Gabriel's vehicle pull into a nearby hangar. At the hangar, Gabriel demands that Farrell decrypt the financial data from Woodlawn. When he refuses, Gabriel shoots him in the leg and threatens to kill Lucy. McClane arrives and kills two more of Gabriel's men, but is shot and wounded by Gabriel's last man, Emerson. Gabriel positions himself behind McClane, putting the barrel of the gun in his shoulder wound. McClane then pulls the trigger. The bullet travels through McClane's shoulder and hits Gabriel in the heart, killing him instantly. Farrell then grabs a pistol and kills Emerson as the FBI arrives. Afterward, McClane thanks Farrell for saving Lucy's life.

The protagonist XXXX (otherwise unnamed) is a London cocaine distributor who abhors violence and operates with the care and professionalism of a legitimate businessman. His chief associates are his enforcer and partner Morty, and Gene, an Irish gangster who serves as his liaison to mob boss Jimmy Price. Just as XXXX is ready to retire from criminal life, he is summoned to a lunch meeting with Jimmy, who gives him two tasks. The first is to track down Charlie, the drug-addicted runaway daughter of one of Price's associates. XXXX enlists the con men Cody and Tiptoes to find her; they learn that Charlie has apparently been kidnapped, but are unable to discover who abducted her. The second task is for XXXX to oversee the purchase of one million ecstasy tablets from the "Duke", a low-level criminal who recently returned to London from Amsterdam with his girlfriend Slasher and crew of thugs led by his right-hand man Gazza. Unbeknownst to XXXX, the Duke and his crew have stolen the pills from a gang of Serbian war criminals. He meets the Duke's feckless nephew, Sidney, and finds himself attracted to his girlfriend Tammy. XXXX tries to broker the sale of the pills to Liverpool gangsters Trevor and Shanks but they refuse, informing him of their origin and that the vengeful Serbians have sent the assassin Dragan to recover the pills and kill the thieves. As the Duke had mentioned his name to the Serbians, XXXX is also a target. XXXX arranges a tryst with Tammy but is kidnapped and brought to Eddie Temple, a wealthy crime lord. Eddie explains that Charlie is his daughter, whom he has recovered; Jimmy, having recently lost a fortune due to bad investments he blames on Eddie, wanted her as a hostage until Eddie recouped his losses. Eddie gives XXXX a recording, revealing that Jimmy has been working as an informant for Scotland Yard, planning to betray XXXX to the police once the pills were sold in exchange for immunity for his own crimes and XXXX's money. Eddie demands that XXXX sell him the pills instead. XXXX assassinates Jimmy at his home, but later finds that his accountant, an associate of Jimmy's, has vanished along with XXXX's money. Confronted by Gene and Morty, he shares the evidence of Jimmy's betrayal, and the pair acknowledge him as the new acting boss. Gene shows them the corpse of the Duke, who was killed by one of his men when Slasher threatened to go to the police if Jimmy did not help them out of their situation. XXXX hires hitman Lucky, an associate of Trevor and Shanks, to ambush and kill Dragan, but Dragan kills Lucky first and makes XXXX promise to recover the pills. Sidney brings XXXX to Duke's old hideout, and, as he tries to bargain with Gazza for the pills, the police arrive. XXXX and the Duke's gang barely escape the raid, while Dragan watches from afar as the pills are confiscated. However, it turns out that XXXX arranged for the raid, with Cody and Tiptoes posing as officers to secure the pills. XXXX delivers the Duke's severed head to Dragan as a peace offering; satisfied, Dragan reports to the Serbians that the police have seized the drugs. The Serbians accept the loss, which is revealed to be a small amount in comparison to their overall manufacturing capacity. When XXXX and his crew arrive at Eddie's warehouse to sell the pills as arranged, Eddie's henchmen relieve them of the drugs at gunpoint, and Eddie welcomes him to the "layer cake" of criminal hierarchy. Having anticipated this double-cross, XXXX arranges Trevor and Shanks to gun down Eddie's men in an armed robbery, take the drugs, and sell them via Dizzy so he can settle his accounts. The gang assembles for lunch at the Stoke Park Country Club, honouring their new boss, but XXXX declines their offer of leadership and follows up on his initial plan to retire. With Tammy on his arm, he leaves the club, but is shot by a jilted yet apologetic Sidney. He collapses, bleeding out on the steps.

After being homeschooled her entire life and having spent the last twelve years in Africa, 16-year-old Cady Heron begins her first day at North Shore High School. She has trouble making friends and is put down by the teachers on her first day, although she does befriend outcasts Janis Ian and Damian Leigh, who explain the school's various cliques to her, warning her about the "Plastics", a trio of wealthy and mean girls consisting of ruthless queen bee Regina George, insecure gossiper Gretchen Wieners, and bubbly airhead Karen Smith. Regina, Gretchen, and Karen take a shine to Cady and unexpectedly invite her to join the Plastics. Upon realizing this, Janis hatches a plan to infiltrate the group and destroy Regina's reputation. Cady becomes infatuated with her classmate Aaron Samuels. Karen and Gretchen warn her that, as Regina's ex-boyfriend, he is off-limits, though Regina assures Cady she does not care if Cady and Aaron date. Despite Janis's insistence that Regina is "evil", Cady comes to enjoy hanging out with the group, including writing insulting remarks about their classmates and teachers in a scrapbook called the "Burn Book." However, at a Halloween house party, instead of talking to Aaron on Cady's behalf, Regina kisses him in front of her and resumes their relationship. Feeling betrayed, an enraged Cady fully commits to Janis's plan. Over the following months, Cady, with Janis and Damian's help, manages to trick Gretchen into revealing her secrets, break up Regina's relationship with Aaron (and spend time with him by pretending to need math tutoring), and cause her to gain weight by giving her high-calorie snack "Kalteen Bars" under the pretense that they are diet food. After violating the Plastics' dress code rules by wearing sweatpants on Monday, due to her weight gain, Regina is kicked out of the group, as Cady becomes the new "queen bee". While Cady's parents are out of town, she throws a house party, and drunkenly admits to Aaron that she does not actually need math tutoring, and he renounces her for being as manipulative as Regina. Janis and Damian angrily confront Cady for throwing a party instead of attending the former's art show and declare that she has become as plastic as she pretended to be. Meanwhile, Regina becomes enraged when she discovers Cady's sabotage, and inserts fake slander of herself into the Burn Book, hoping to frame the latter and the other Plastics. Regina spreads the contents of the book throughout the hallways, inciting chaos. Principal Duvall and math teacher Ms. Norbury gather the female junior students in the gym to talk through their social issues. During this, Janis reveals her plan to destroy Regina to her face and openly mocks her, much to the students' excitement. Regina furiously storms out, pursued by an apologetic Cady. While ranting at Cady, Regina is hit by a school bus, fracturing her spine. Rumors circulate that Cady intentionally pushed Regina in front of the bus. After realizing a comment she wrote in the Burn Book has framed Ms. Norbury as a drug dealer, which has caused the police to come to the school and interrogate her math class, Cady decides to take full responsibility for the book. Regina, Gretchen, and Karen are spared punishment, but Cady becomes a social pariah, resulting in being grounded by her parents. To earn extra credit, Cady joins the school Mathletes, moderated by Ms. Norbury and led by fellow student Kevin Gnapoor. At the state finals, she correctly answers the tiebreaker question, winning the championship. The team arrives at the Spring Fling dance, where Cady is unexpectedly elected queen. She breaks the plastic tiara and distributes the pieces to others in the crowd, makes peace with Janis, Damian, and the Plastics, and shares a slow dance and a kiss with Aaron. The Plastics disband by the time senior year begins. A fully recovered Regina joins the school's lacrosse team to channel her anger positively, Gretchen joins the "Cool Asians" clique, and Karen becomes the school's weather girl. Cady begins dating Aaron and continues to hang out with Janis and Damian, with the former starting to date Kevin. While reflecting on herself on the relative social peace that has taken over North Shore High, Cady notices a new popular clique in the freshman class and wonders how long the "Junior Plastics" will last, jokingly imagining them being hit by a school bus.

In January 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln expects the American Civil War to end soon, with the defeat of the Confederate States Army. He is concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts after the war and that the proposed Thirteenth Amendment will be defeated by the returning slave states. He feels it is imperative to pass the amendment beforehand, to foreclose any possibility that freed slaves might be re-enslaved. The Radical Republicans fear the amendment will be defeated by some who wish to delay its passage; support from Republicans in the states is not yet assured. The amendment also requires the support of several Democratic congressmen in order for it to pass. With dozens of Democrats being lame ducks after losing their re-election campaigns in 1864, some of Lincoln's advisors recommend waiting for a new Republican nominated Congress. Lincoln relies on Francis Preston Blair, a founder of the Republican Party, to influence members of the state conservative faction to vote for the anti-slavery amendment. Blair in turn insists that Lincoln allow him to engage the Confederate government in peace negotiations, knowing his two sons will once again be in danger after the spring thaw permits renewed military operations. While Lincoln knows such negotiations would anger the Radical Republicans, he needs to support the slavery amendment; he also cannot proceed without Blair's support and reluctantly authorizes the peace mission. Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward also need to secure Democratic votes for the amendment and Lincoln suggests they concentrate on the lame-ducks who will feel less restricted so as to vote independently. Lincoln also authorizes agents to offer federal jobs to the soon to be unemployed Democratic congressmen. Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of President Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, returns from Harvard Law School and announces his intention to discontinue his studies and enlist in the Union army. He hopes to earn a measure of honor and respect outside of his father's shadow. The President reluctantly secures an officer's commission for him. His wife fears their son will be killed and urges her husband to pass the amendment and end the war. At a critical moment in the debate in the United States House of Representatives, racial-equality advocate Thaddeus Stevens agrees to moderate his position and argue that the amendment represents only legal equality between the races, not a declaration of actual equality. Confederate envoys ready to meet with Lincoln are instructed to remain outside of Washington, D.C. as the amendment approaches a vote on the House floor. Rumors of the peace envoy circulate, prompting both Democrats and conservative Republicans to advocate postponing the vote. In a carefully worded statement, Lincoln denies there are envoys in Washington, and the vote passes by a margin of two votes. Black visitors to the gallery celebrate, and Stevens returns home to his "housekeeper" and lover, a biracial woman named Lydia Hamilton Smith. When Lincoln meets with the Confederates, he tells them that slavery cannot be restored, as the North is united for ratification of the amendment, and several of the southern states' reconstructed legislatures would also vote to ratify. As a result, the peace negotiations fail, and the war continues. On April 3, Lincoln visits the battlefield at Petersburg, Virginia and speaks with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. On April 9, Grant receives General Robert E. Lee 's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. On April 14, Lincoln meets members of his cabinet to discuss future measures to enfranchise blacks, before leaving for Ford's Theatre. That night, while Lincoln's son Tad is watching a play at Grover's Theatre, the manager stops the play to announce that the President has been shot. The next morning, at the Petersen House, Lincoln dies with a peaceful expression across his face. In a flashback, he finishes reciting his second inaugural address on March 4 with the words, "With malice toward none, with charity for all".

In Montreal, Canada, a writer meets Pi Patel, whom he has been told would be a good subject for a book. Pi tells the writer the following story: Pi's father names him Piscine Molitor Patel after Piscine Molitor, a famous French swimming pool. In secondary school in Pondicherry, he adopts the Greek letter " Pi " as his nickname to avoid bullying, because his first name Piscine sounds like ‘pissing’. He is raised in a Hindu family, but at 12 years old, he is introduced to Christianity and then Islam, and decides to follow all three religions as he "just wants to love God". Pi's mother supports his desire to grow, but his rationalist father tries to secularize him. Their family owns a zoo, and Pi takes interest in a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After he gets dangerously close to Richard Parker, his father forces him to witness it killing a goat. When Pi is 16, his father announces that due to " The Emergency ", they must move to Canada, where he intends to settle and sell the animals. The family books passage with the animals on a Japanese freighter. During a storm, the ship founders while Pi is on deck. He struggles to find his family, but a crewman throws him into a lifeboat. A freed plains zebra jumps onto the boat with him, breaking its leg. The ship sinks into the Mariana Trench, drowning his family. After the storm, Pi awakens in the lifeboat with the zebra and is joined by a Bornean orangutan. A spotted hyena emerges from under a tarpaulin, forcing Pi to retreat to the end of the boat. The hyena kills the zebra and later the orangutan. Richard Parker suddenly emerges from under the tarpaulin, killing the hyena before retreating to cover. Pi fashions a small raft which he tethers to the lifeboat to be safe from Richard Parker. His moral code is against killing, but he begins fishing, enabling him to sustain the tiger. When the tiger jumps into the sea to hunt for fish and swims toward Pi, he considers letting him drown but ultimately helps him into the boat. One night, a humpback whale destroys the raft and its supplies. Pi trains Richard Parker to accept him in the boat and realizes that caring for the tiger is helping to keep himself alive. Weeks later, they encounter a floating island. It is a lush jungle of edible plants, freshwater pools and a large population of meerkats, enabling Pi and Richard Parker to eat, drink and regain strength. At night, the island transforms into a hostile environment. Richard Parker retreats to the lifeboat while Pi and the meerkats sleep in the trees; the water pools turn acidic. Pi deduces that the island is carnivorous after finding a human tooth embedded in a flower. Pi and Richard Parker leave the island, reaching Mexico after over 200 days at sea. Pi is heartbroken that Richard Parker does not acknowledge him before disappearing into the jungle. While he recovers in a hospital, insurance agents for the Japanese freighter company interview him, but do not believe his story and ask what really happened, specifically concerning why the ship sank. So Pi retells the story, in which the animals are replaced by humans: his mother for the orangutan, an amiable Buddhist sailor for the zebra, the ship's brutish cook for the hyena, and Pi himself for Richard Parker. The cook kills the sailor and feeds on his flesh. He then kills Pi's mother, after which Pi kills him and uses his remains as food and fish bait. The insurance agents are dissatisfied with this story but leave without questioning him further. When the writer recognizes the animal story may be an allegory for the human story, Pi says that it does not matter which story is true because his family died either way, and neither story provides the explanation the insurance company wanted. He asks which story the author prefers, and the author chooses the first, to which Pi replies, "and so it goes with God". Glancing at a copy of the insurance report, the writer reads that Pi survived his adventure "in the company of an adult Bengal tiger".

In 1971, Lucie Jurin escapes from a slaughterhouse where she has been imprisoned and tortured for over a year. She is placed in an orphanage, where she befriends Anna Assaoui. One day, Anna finds Lucie in a bathtub, her arm covered in cuts. Lucie begs Anna not to tell anyone. Anna embraces her, imploring her not to cut herself. Lucie responds that she did not do it. Later, Lucie is attacked by a disfigured, demonic woman. 15 years later, Lucie invades the home of a seemingly normal family, the Belfonds, whom she believes were involved in her torture as a child, and methodically kills each of them with a shotgun. She calls Anna and gives her the house's address. While waiting for Anna to arrive, the demonic woman attacks Lucie, stabbing her hand and cutting her back. Lucie flees the house and encounters Anna, who tends to her injuries and enters the house despite Lucie's warning not to. Anna is horrified by the carnage, but decides to help Lucie clean the crime scene and dispose of the bodies. Anna kisses Lucie, who rejects her. Lucie is once again attacked by the woman and hides with Anna in a bedroom. Lucie recalls her escape, during which she ran from a pleading fellow prisoner who begged her for help. Anna discovers the Belfond mother is still alive and tries to help her escape, but Lucie catches them and beats the mother to death with a hammer. The demonic woman again attacks Lucie, but Anna only sees Lucie hurting herself; the woman resembles the victim that Lucie left behind at the slaughterhouse and is a psychological manifestation of Lucie's guilt. Lucie then runs outside and kills herself by slitting her own throat. The following morning, Anna, while on the phone with her estranged, abusive mother, discovers a secret passageway in the home's living room, leading to a subterranean chamber containing illuminated photographs of torture, and a living, brutalized, emaciated woman, proving Lucie's claims about the Belfonds. Anna attempts to help the woman, who is hysterical and nonverbal. She removes a steel blindfold that has been stapled to the woman's skull and helps bathe her, only to later find her mutilating her arm with a knife. A group of people arrives at the house, kills the woman, and captures Anna. The group's leader, identified only as Mademoiselle, explains that they belong to a secret society seeking to uncover the secrets of the afterlife by creating " martyrs ". They capture individuals and inflict on them systematic acts of torture, believing that their physical suffering will result in transcendental insight into the world beyond. Though they have only produced "victims" who succumbed to the pain and were unable to speak, the group is determined to create martyrs who accept their suffering and report their visions of the afterlife. Anna becomes the group's newest subject. After a period of being brutally beaten and degraded, she is told that she has progressed further than any other subject and reached the "final stage", demonstrating her acceptance of her fate. She is surgically flayed alive and reportedly enters an " ecstatic " state. Mademoiselle arrives, eager to learn Anna's secrets, and Anna whispers into her ear. Members of the society gather at the house to pay veneration to Anna for her martyrdom and hear Mademoiselle's announcement of the groundbreaking testimony. While waiting for Mademoiselle, who is in the bathroom, Étienne, an assistant, asks her from outside the door if what Anna said was clear. She unequivocally confirms and asks him in turn if he can imagine what comes after death. After he says no, Mademoiselle produces a handgun, tells him to "keep doubting," and shoots herself. An intertitle explains that "martyr" is Greek for "witness". The film ends with a shot of Anna lying catatonic on a table, seemingly looking at something far away. During the credits, home movies of Anna and Lucie as children are shown.

Holly Berenson is the owner of a small Atlanta bakery, and Eric Messer is a promising television technical sports director for the Atlanta Hawks. Their best friends, Peter and Alison, set them up on a blind date that goes horribly wrong and results in both hating each other with a passion. As the years go by, Peter and Alison get married and have a baby girl named Sophie. They also select Holly and Eric – who teasingly tolerate each other – as the godparents. Shortly after Sophie's first birthday, Peter and Alison are killed in a car crash. Holly and Eric learn that their friends named them Sophie's joint guardians. After discovering that none of Peter and Alison's relatives are fit to take care of Sophie, the two put their differences aside and move into Sophie's home. Living together proves to be a struggle. One evening, Holly is away at an important catering job when Eric is given the opportunity to direct a big basketball game. He takes Sophie with him, but her crying distracts him, leading to him making a big mistake on the broadcast. When they get home, Eric and Holly argue, but later they make up. Holly goes on a date with Sam, Sophie's pediatrician. The date is cut short when Eric calls to tell Sam that Sophie has a high fever. When they join him at the hospital, Eric sees Holly kiss Sam. Over time, the guardians discover that raising a child is more expensive than they had expected, so Holly can no longer afford to expand her business. Eric helps by investing in her company, and they cement the new relationship by going on a date, which ends with them having sex and developing strong feelings. Their Child Protective Services caseworker Janine tells them they must make a firm commitment, either to stay together, or break up, as waffling in between would be bad for Sophie. Eric is offered his dream job with the Phoenix Suns, and does not discuss it with Holly. When Holly finds out, she tells him to take the job, accusing him of looking for a way out of raising Sophie. At Thanksgiving break, Eric returns from Phoenix for a visit, hoping to patch things up with Holly. She invites him to a dinner that she and Sam are hosting for neighbors and friends. Eric and Holly argue loudly when he learns she is planning to sell the house soon, as the upkeep is too costly. She accuses him of deserting her and Sophie, while he points out how quickly she replaced him. Eric tells her he loves her, but leaves the dinner, planning to return to Phoenix. Once alone with Holly, Sam says that if he and his former wife had fought in the way that Eric and she did, they would still be together. He tells Holly to work out her feelings for Eric, and leaves. That night, Sophie calls Holly "Mama" for the first time. Janine visits to make her final determination whether Holly and Eric are fit parents. Holly realizes that she cannot take care of Sophie without Eric, and that she loves him. She, Sophie and Janine rush to the airport, but upon reaching the gate, finds that Eric's flight has departed. Returning to the house, Holly finds Eric sitting inside. He tells her he has realized that Peter and Alison chose them to be Sophie's guardians because, together, they are a loving family. A few months later, they host Sophie's second birthday party, with all the neighbors and friends in attendance. Holly has made a second cake, with the number 1 on it, telling Eric, "It's for us, 'cause we made it a year", then they kiss.

In 1973 San Fernando Valley, 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine meets 25-year-old Alana Kane, a photographer's assistant, at his school picture day. She is put off by his invitation to dinner, but shows up anyway. When Gary's mother cannot chaperone him on a press tour performance in New York City, he invites Alana. He is jealous when Alana begins dating his co-star Lance, but they break up after Lance reveals he is an atheist during Shabbat dinner with her Jewish family. Gary begins selling waterbeds and reconnects with Alana at a teenage trade expo. Mistaken for a murder suspect, Gary is arrested and Alana runs after him to the police station, but he is soon released. Alana joins Gary's waterbed business, acting seductively on the phone to land a potential customer. Introducing her to his talent agent, he is upset that she is open to nudity but refuses to show him her breasts. She impulsively does so, but slaps him when he asks to touch them. They open a "Fat Bernie's" storefront for their waterbeds, and Alana is hurt when Gary flirts with his classmate Sue. Peeking in on them making out in the back room, Alana kisses a man on the street before storming off back home. Gary's agent secures an audition for Alana for a film starring veteran actor Jack Holden, who takes her to the Tail o' the Cock restaurant, where Gary and his friends are also dining. An intoxicated Alana makes Gary jealous, and Holden's friend, film director Rex Blau, convinces him to recreate one of his motorcycle stunts on a nearby golf course, bringing the entire restaurant along. Alana topples off the bike before Holden jumps over a flaming sand trap, and Gary runs to her side. Reconciled, they walk to the waterbed store, where Gary stops himself from touching a sleeping Alana's breast. The 1973 oil crisis sweeps the country, forcing the waterbed manufacturer to close. Alana, Gary, and his friends make one final delivery to the home of Jon Peters, who humiliates Gary before leaving to meet his girlfriend, Barbra Streisand. Filling up the waterbed inside, Gary intentionally leaves the hose running, with Alana's approval. They drive away but are waved down by an agitated Peters, whose car has run out of gas, and leave him at a crowded gas station when he violently commandeers a gas pump. Gary stops to smash Peters's car, but runs out of gas as well. Alana maneuvers their truck backward down a long hill to a gas station, impressing Gary, but causing her to question her recent decisions. Inspired by a campaign poster, Alana reaches out to her old classmate Brian, who brings her on as volunteer staffer for Joel Wachs, a city councilman running for mayor. Gary briefly joins her but overhears that pinball will soon be legalized in the Valley and decides to open an arcade, leading to an argument with Alana about their difference in age and their fraught relationship. Emasculating Gary to make herself feel superior, Alana offers to drive him home in an attempt to make peace, but Gary drives off alone. Later, Gary prepares for the opening night of his arcade, remodeling his storefront into "Fat Bernie's Pinball Palace." That same night, Alana nearly shares a kiss with Brian, but is interrupted by an invitation from Wachs. Thinking it is a date, she is dejected to discover Wachs wants her to pose as the girlfriend of his secret boyfriend, Matthew, to save him from political embarrassment. Alana walks a deeply hurt Matthew home, and they commiserate over the men in their lives. She goes to the arcade to find Gary, who has left to look for her at Wachs's office, with her sisters' encouragement. They eventually run to each other's arms and return to the arcade, where Gary announces her as "Mrs. Alana Valentine." Sharing a kiss, they run into the night, and Alana tells Gary that she loves him.

Eddie Morra is a struggling author in New York City. His girlfriend Lindy, frustrated with his lack of progress and ambition, breaks up with him. Eddie encounters Vernon, the brother of his ex-wife Melissa, who gives him a sample of a new nootropic called NZT-48, which Vernon implies will help Eddie with his "creative problems". Eddie tries the drug and discovers that he has acquired perfect recall, able to analyze minute details and information at incredible speed. Under the influence, he helps his landlord's wife with her law school homework, sleeps with her, cleans his apartment, and, now inspired, makes major progress on his book. Eddie visits Vernon's apartment to learn more about the pill, but finds him badly beaten. Vernon, refusing to explain what happened, sends Eddie to run some errands. When Eddie returns, he finds Vernon murdered and his apartment ransacked. Before the police arrive, Eddie finds Vernon's stash of pills. Eddie finishes his book and fantasizes about what he can accomplish on the drug, but with little money, he decides to day trade with a $100,000 loan from Gennady, a loan shark. He makes shocking gains and resumes his relationship with Lindy. His success leads to a meeting with finance tycoon Carl Van Loon, who tests him by seeking advice on a merger with rival Hank Atwood's company. After the meeting, Eddie experiences an 18-hour dissociative fugue, which he refers to as a "time skip". The next day, before a meeting with Van Loon, Eddie finds out that his drug supply has run out, forcing him to go without it. During the meeting, Eddie sees on a news telecast that a woman has been murdered in her hotel room. Recognizing her as a woman with whom he slept during his time skip, he abruptly leaves. Eddie learns that everyone who took NZT-48 is either hospitalized or dead. He repays Gennady but he finds one pill, and, after trying it, harasses Eddie for more. He and Lindy are also pursued by a man in a trench coat, and she tells Eddie that she cannot be with him while he is on the drug. Using pills that he stashed at Lindy's apartment, Eddie experiments and learns to control his dosage, sleep schedule, and food intake to prevent side effects. He hires a laboratory to reverse-engineer the drug, an attorney to keep the police from investigating him, and two bodyguards to protect him from Gennady. On the day of the merger, Atwood falls into a coma. Eddie recognizes Atwood's driver as the man in the trench coat and realizes that Atwood was on NZT-48 and is suffering from withdrawal. While Eddie participates in a police lineup, his attorney steals his supply of pills. Eddie enters into withdrawal, and while Van Loon questions him about Atwood's coma, Eddie receives a parcel containing the severed hands of his bodyguards. He hurries home but Gennady breaks in, demanding more pills, which Eddie is finally out of. Gennady flaunts his abilities while injecting himself with NZT-48, explaining that direct injection into the bloodstream causes the effects to last longer. As Gennady prepares to eviscerate him, Eddie grabs his own knife and kills Gennady. Eddie consumes Gennady's blood to ingest the last of the NZT-48. His mental abilities restored, he kills the remaining henchmen and finds the man in the trench coat, surmising that Atwood employed him to locate more NZT-48. Once Atwood dies, the two recover Eddie's stash from his attorney's apartment. A year later, Eddie is running for the United States Senate. Van Loon visits him and reveals that he acquired the company that produced NZT-48 and shut down Eddie's laboratory. Acknowledging that Eddie will likely become President of the United States one day, Van Loon offers Eddie a continued supply of the drug in exchange for political support. Eddie tells Van Loon that he has already perfected the drug and weaned himself off it, retaining his abilities without side effects. Defeated, Van Loon leaves. Eddie goes to lunch with Lindy. After Eddie speaks in fluent-sounding Mandarin with the waiter, Lindy looks at Eddie suspiciously. He looks at Lindy and asks, "What?".