Eight men planning to rob a jewelry store for a diamond shipment eat breakfast at a diner. To pull off the heist, boss Joe Cabot assembles six experienced robbers who are strangers to each other. Joe and his son, "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot, have known some of the team for years, but to shield identities, the rest use aliases: Mr. White, a career criminal; Mr. Blonde, a trigger-happy ex-convict; Mr. Orange, a reputed drug dealer; Mr. Pink, a paranoid neurotic; Mr. Brown, a pseudo philosopher; and Mr. Blue, an even-tempered cohort. When an alarm is tripped during the heist, after Blonde started to shoot bystanders, the police arrive quickly. Running from police, Pink hijacks a car, killing a couple of police officers in a shootout. White, who shoots police officers pursuing in a prowler, flees with Orange, who is shot hijacking a car before he kills the driver. Shot in the abdomen, Orange bleeds profusely in the back seat of the car driven by White. Despite Orange's pleadings to be taken to a hospital, White insists that he is not fatally wounded. At their warehouse hideout, White and Orange rendezvous with Pink, who informs them that he has hidden the diamonds nearby. Pink believes that the job was a setup and that the police were waiting to ambush them. White informs Pink that Brown is dead, Blue and Blonde are missing, and Blonde—a loose cannon—murdered several bystanders during the heist. White is furious that Joe, his old friend, would employ Blonde, who he describes as a psychopath. Pink argues with White, who feels responsible for Orange being shot, over whether to get medical attention for Orange, and Pink is wary that Joe is not there to get a doctor. The pair draw guns on each other, but they stand down when Blonde arrives with a kidnapped policeman, Marvin Nash. In flashback, having been paroled after a four-year prison sentence, Blonde meets with the Cabots. To reward him for not giving Joe's name to the authorities, the Cabots offer Blonde a no-show job. Though grateful, Blonde insists that he wants to get back to "real work", and they recruit him for the heist. In the present, White and Pink begin to torture Nash for information. Eddie arrives and orders them to go with him to ditch the getaway vehicles, leaving Blonde in charge of prisoner Nash and the in-and-out-of-consciousness Orange. Nash denies prior knowledge of the heist, but Blonde resumes the torture by slashing his face and cutting off his ear with a straight razor while a radio plays " Stuck in the Middle with You ". When Blonde prepares to set Nash on fire, Orange shoots and kills him. Disclosing to Nash that he is an undercover police officer, Orange says that the police will arrive when Joe comes to the warehouse. Nash replies that he recognized Orange, revealing that Nash protected Orange's cover under torture. Flashbacks show scenes of Orange gaining Joe's and White's confidence and building rapport with the team. When Eddie, Pink, and White return, Orange tries to convince them that Blonde planned to kill them all and steal the diamonds for himself. Eddie shoots and kills Nash and accuses Orange of lying, since Blonde proved loyal to his father. Joe arrives with news that the police have killed Blue. Suspecting that Orange is the traitor behind the setup, Joe is about to execute him, but White intervenes, holding Joe at gunpoint and insisting that Orange is not a police officer. Eddie aims his gun at White, creating a Mexican standoff. All three fire. Both Eddie and Joe Cabot are killed, and White and Orange are wounded. Pink (the only uninjured person), takes the diamonds and flees, but is apprehended by the police outside. As White cradles the dying Orange in his arms, Orange confesses that he is in fact a police officer. White presses his gun to Orange's head. The police storm the warehouse and order White to drop his gun. Gunshots sound and White collapses.

Following his appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards as his superhero character Fartman, radio personality Howard Stern boards his flight home and finds himself seated next to a stranger named Gloria who is visibly repelled by him. Stern, thinking she sees him as a moron, begins to tell his life story, starting with the verbal abuse he received as a young child from his father Ben. Stern has always dreamed of being on the radio after visiting his father's recording studio but grows up to be a quiet, socially awkward guy. He decides to work in radio and studies communications at Boston University. He becomes a DJ at WTBU, the college station, and meets his girlfriend Alison. After graduating, Howard works at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, New York, and is promoted to program director, which allows him to marry Alison. He leaves the station after being asked to fire a fellow DJ and moves to WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut, where he befriends DJ Fred Norris. Howard adopts a more casual attitude on the air, becoming more open and up front. He and Fred attend the premiere of actress Brittany Fairchild's new film. The three leave early for Fairchild's hotel room, where she strips for a bath and convinces Howard and Fred to join in. Brittany's behavior becomes more sexual, and an embarrassed Howard leaves. When Alison finds his wet underwear in their car and believes he has been unfaithful, she leaves him. Howard leaves Hartford for WWWW in Detroit, Michigan, and is miserable, but Alison goes to Detroit and forgives him. WWWW then switches to country music and Howard quits. Howard starts at WWDC in Washington, D.C., in 1981 and meets his news anchor Robin Quivers, whom he encourages to riff with him on the air. They refuse orders from boss Dee Dee for constantly breaking format. One of their antics, in which Howard assists a female caller to reach orgasm, almost gets him fired until a ratings boost forces Dee Dee to keep him and hire Fred to the team. Meanwhile Alison announces her pregnancy, but it ends in miscarriage. Although they cheer each other up by joking about it, Howard makes light of the situation on the air, which greatly upsets Alison. When Alison becomes pregnant again, Howard gets his dream offer to work in New York City at WNBC, where he has the chance to become a nationwide success. However, upper management at NBC hired Howard not realizing what his show was like until they see a news report about him. Program director Kenny Rushton, whom Howard refers to as Pig Vomit, offers to keep Howard in line or he will force him to quit. Howard, Fred, and Robin ignore Kenny's restrictions on content until a risqué Match Game with comedian Jackie Martling causes Rushton to fire Robin. The show fails with her absence, and her replacement quits after Howard's interview with an actress who swallows a kielbasa sausage. Robin is eventually brought back, but Howard's antics continue with a naked woman in the studio, resulting in Kenny cutting off the broadcast. Howard gets the show back on the air and gets into a physical altercation with Kenny in his office. In 1985 Howard becomes number one at WNBC, and Kenny tries to gain Howard's friendship but is promptly turned down. Howard thanks his fans with an outdoor concert by AC/DC. During the performance Alison is rushed to the hospital and gives birth to a girl. The film then cuts back to the flight, revealing that Howard has told his story to Gloria. Though he believes he could pick her up, Howard remains faithful and meets Alison at the airport as his daughters run to greet him. During the end credits Stuttering John rants about his absence in the film. At the Oscars Mia Farrow then presents an Academy Award for Best Actor to Howard, who appears as Fartman once again, but Howard falls from mid-air and the audience applauds. Having left radio, Kenny now manages a shopping mall in Alabama and blames Howard for his downfall. During his outbursts his swearing is drowned out by jackhammer noises.

Nick "The Zone" Falzone and his fellow air traffic controllers at the New York TRACON pride themselves on their ability to handle the intense stress of being a controller for one of the busiest airspaces in the country, even boasting of the 50% drop-out rate for new additions to staff unable to cope with the pressure. The group is joined by the quiet and confident Russell Bell, a veteran of TRACONs in the Western US. Russell quickly proves to be exceptionally capable of handling the increased workload using unorthodox and risky methods. Nick feels challenged by the new controller's ability to outperform him at seemingly every task. He warns his supervisor Russell is a loose cannon, especially after discovering that Russell once stood on a runway to allow himself to be violently propelled by a landing commercial airliner's wake turbulence. At a supermarket, Nick encounters Russell's despondent young wife Mary, who is sobbing over a grocery cart full of alcohol. In consoling her, he ends up at the Bells' house, where they cheat on their respective spouses. Several days later, Mary informs Nick that she immediately told Russell about their one-night stand and that the confession has actually improved their marriage. Fearing retaliation, Nick confronts Russell at work and is confused and surprised by his even-tempered response to the situation. Meanwhile, Nick's wife, Connie seems to become more and more intrigued by Russell, and Nick becomes increasingly paranoid that he will eventually seek revenge by having sex with her. While out of town for his father-in-law's funeral, Nick can't bring himself to lie when a grieving Connie challenges him to say that he has never cheated on her. As their flight home approaches New York, she sarcastically boasts that she slept with Russell. The plane then makes an odd turn, and he believes Russell is harassing him, or possibly going insane, purposely directing the plane into a dangerous storm. Soon after going to TRACON to confront Russell, a bomb threat is called into the facility. The building is evacuated and both Nick and Russell volunteer to stay behind to handle the daunting task of landing all the planes on approach before the alleged bomb is set to go off in 26 minutes. Successfully routing all but one plane that has lost radio contact, Nick leaves the building as the deadline approaches while Russell remains inside to make contact with the plane by calling one of its passengers via Airfone. Russell is lauded as a hero for making the effort despite the threat, which turned out to be a hoax. Russell abruptly quits and he and Mary move to Colorado. Connie leaves Nick, and his performance at work suffers; the once cocky, boastful controller is sent home after being responsible for two "deals" (near mid-air collisions) in one shift. After learning that Russell had ordered the diversion of his flight not to provoke him, but rather to clear a path to make a plane with a medical emergency on board next in line for a landing, Nick impulsively drives out to Colorado to make amends. Nick seeks his advice on how to get his personal life back in order, but Russell is unable to make him understand with words. He instead brings Nick to a runway so that he too can experience being caught in a landing aircraft's turbulence. They engage in the stunt together, and it has a profound effect on Nick, who thanks Russell. He returns to New York, where he regains his form at work, and reconciles with Connie.

In the year 2678, the spaceship Hunter-Gratzner is struck by micrometeoroids that penetrate the hull, killing the captain and sending it off course toward a nearby planet. First Officer Owens and docking pilot Carolyn Fry attempt an emergency landing. As the ship descends uncontrollably, a panicked Fry prepares to jettison the passengers held in cryostasis to save herself, but Owens intervenes. The ship crash-lands, killing Owens and most of the passengers. The survivors include Fry; Imam Abu al-Walid, escorting three young students (Ali, Hassan and Suleiman) to New Mecca; a teenage boy named Jack; prospectors Shazza and Zeke; wealthy merchant Paris; law enforcement officer William J. Johns; and his prisoner, the dangerous and enigmatic criminal Richard B. Riddick, who escapes in the confusion. While searching for him across the sun-scorched and seemingly barren planet, the group discovers an abandoned geological research settlement with a nonfunctional dropship. When Zeke goes missing, the survivors suspect Riddick. However, Fry investigates a nearby underground cave where she is attacked by aggressive creatures and narrowly escapes. Johns recaptures Riddick and offers to release him in exchange for helping them escape the planet. While exploring the settlement, one of the students, Ali, disturbs a cluster of juvenile creatures, which devour him before retreating underground to avoid the sun, revealing a fatal vulnerability to light. Using an orrery, Fry discovers that a total eclipse—occurring every twenty-two years—is imminent. Once darkness falls, the creatures will emerge to hunt, explaining the fate of the previous settlers. As tension builds, both Johns and Riddick try to win Fry to their side: Fry recounts Riddick's cold pragmatism, while Riddick exposes Johns as a morphine-addicted bounty hunter who had refused to use his drugs to ease Owens' agonizing death. The group races back to the Hunter-Gratzner to retrieve power cells for the dropship, but the total eclipse begins, unleashing thousands of flying creatures that kill Shazza. The survivors take shelter inside the Hunter-Gratzner, but the creatures breach it and devour Hassan. Realizing they must reach the dropship, they enlist Riddick—whose surgically enhanced eyes grant him night vision—to guide them through the darkness. Armed with available and improvised light sources, the group sets out. When the group reaches a narrow canyon teeming with creatures, Paris panics, runs, and is killed. Riddick reveals that Jack is actually a girl disguising herself as a boy, and her menstrual blood is attracting the creatures. In private, Johns suggests to Riddick that they wound Jack and leave her behind as a distraction. Riddick pretends to agree, then attacks Johns—injuring him and leaving him to be killed by the creatures. At Riddick's urging, the remaining group sprints through the canyon as the creatures begin cannibalizing one another. After reaching the other side, rain begins to fall, extinguishing their improvised torches. Suleiman is killed in the ensuing attack. Riddick initially moves on alone but ultimately returns to fight off the creatures and save Jack. He hides Fry, Abu al-Walid, and Jack in a cave, then sets out to retrieve the dropship. Suspicious, Fry follows and finds him preparing to take off and abandon them. Fry pleads with Riddick to help her save the others, but he urges her to escape with him instead. Guilt-ridden over her earlier attempt to sacrifice her passengers, she refuses, admitting she would now die to protect the others. Together, they rescue Abu al-Walid and Jack (with small, bioluminescent native lifeforms), but Riddick is cornered and wounded by the creatures. Fry returns to save him, but she is fatally stabbed by one of the creatures and carried off. Riddick returns to the ship but delays takeoff, allowing the creatures to gather around it before using the engines to incinerate as many as possible. Once in space, Jack asks what they should tell the authorities about him; he tells them that Riddick died on the planet.

Glasgow, 1973. The film starts with a young boy—James's friend Ryan Quinn—twirling himself in mesh curtains before his mother clouts him and readies him to visit his father. But Ryan chooses to play with James instead and runs off, with his mother unawares. Ryan meets James at the canal and drowns during some rough horseplay, at which point James runs away. No one apparently saw that James had tussled with Ryan before his death, but his sense of guilt lingers. Ryan's family are re-housed. On leaving day, Ryan's mother gives James the pair of brown sandals she'd bought for her son on the day of his death, which James purposefully scratches with a piece of broken glass. Sensitive James tries to make sense of the insensitive aspects of his environment as the film proceeds in an episodic structure. He encounters the local gang bullying a girl, Margaret Anne, as they throw her glasses into the canal, but he does nothing. James falls in with the gang at one point—though they threaten to throw him into the canal to drown him like Ryan—and joins them when they visit Margaret Anne, where they each penetrate her sexually. When James is offered a turn, he lies fully clothed on Margaret Anne as she strokes his head tenderly. One day he takes a bus to the end of its route on the outskirts of Glasgow. He explores a new housing estate under construction. Standing in front of a kitchen window in a half-built house, he wonders in awe at the view: an expansive field of wheat, blowing in the wind and reaching to the horizon. James climbs through the window and escapes into the blissful freedom of the field. One of James' friends, a simple boy named Kenny, receives a pet mouse as a birthday present. After the gang throw the mouse around in the air to make him "fly," Kenny asks James where he would fly to. James, trying to prevent the gang from throwing it at the wall, says the moon. Kenny then ties the mouse's tail to a balloon and releases it as James and the gang watch. In a fantastical shift, the film shows it floating to the moon. Then, Kenny's mouse joins a whole colony of other mice frolicking on the moon. James and Margaret Anne become friends and find comfort in each other's company. After his mother delouses James and his sister, he uses the materials to delouse Margaret Anne at her flat. They bathe together during the process, playing with the soap together in a child-like way. Kenny later falls in the canal trying to catch a perch and is rescued by James' father, who briefly becomes a local hero and is given a medal for bravery. While his father is in a deep sleep following the rescue, James lets in the council inspectors tasked with assessing merit for rehousing. In his disheveled state, his father makes a poor impression on the inspectors. He berates James for the mistake and says that their likely rejection would be James's fault. After receiving the medal, his father goes out drinking with friends. He also buys a pair of cleats for James, presumably to mend their relationship. The local gang falls upon James's father while he's playing with a stray cat on the way home and slashes him with a switchblade. When he comes home, drunk and injured, he forcefully offers the cleats to James, who rejects them. When James's mother tries to tend to his father's injuries, he slaps her as the family look on. After, James throws the cleat at him and runs away. He visits Margaret Anne's home and the two embrace in bed. She asks him if he loves her and he says that he does. The Army eventually arrive to clean all the rubbish from the neighbourhood. After failing to recover Margaret Anne's glasses from the canal, James sees her once again with the local gang taking turns sexually abusing her. James snaps at Kenny, saying that he killed his own mouse. Kenny then starts chanting "poor cow" about Margaret Anne, drawing James's anger. He continues, chanting that he saw James kill Ryan Quinn. After a tender moment with his little sister, James rises early and goes to the canal, where he sinks below the surface. A brief scene is shown of James and his family moving into the new neighbourhood, carrying their furniture and possessions across the wheat field that James discovered earlier. James walks behind the main group and slowly faces the camera, his face breaking into a full smile. The closing credits play, showing James sinking in slow motion in the murky canal water, with his fate left up to interpretation.

Sara Goldfarb, a widow living alone in a Brighton Beach apartment, watches television. Her son Harry is a heroin addict, along with his friend Tyrone. The two deal heroin in a bid to realize their dreams; Harry and his girlfriend Marion plan to open a clothing store for Marion's designs, while Tyrone seeks the approval of his mother and an escape from the ghetto. When Sara receives a call that she has been invited to appear on her favorite game show (presumably a scam, prank call, or delusion on her part), she begins a restrictive crash diet, hoping to fit into a red dress that she wore at Harry's graduation. At the advice of her friend Rae, Sara visits a physician who prescribes her amphetamines to control her appetite. She begins losing weight rapidly and is excited by how much energy she has. When Harry recognizes the signs of her drug abuse and implores her to stop taking the amphetamines, Sara insists that the chance to appear on television and the increased admiration from her friends Ada and Rae are her remaining reasons to live. As time passes, Sara becomes frantic waiting for the invitation and increases her dosage, which causes her to develop amphetamine psychosis. Tyrone is caught in a shootout between drug traffickers and the Sicilian Mafia and is arrested despite his innocence. Harry has to use most of their saved money to post bail. As a result of the gang warfare, the local supply of heroin becomes restricted, and they are unable to find any to buy. Eventually, Tyrone hears of a large shipment coming to New York from Florida, but the price has doubled and the minimum purchase risk is high. Harry encourages Marion to engage in prostitution, particularly with her psychiatrist, Arnold, as a client. This request, along with their mounting withdrawal symptoms, strains their relationship. Sara's increased dosage of amphetamines distorts her sense of reality, and she begins to hallucinate that she is mocked by the host and crowd from the television show, and attacked by her refrigerator. Sara flees her apartment and goes to the casting agency office in Manhattan to confirm when she will be on television. Sara's disturbed state causes her to be admitted to a psychiatric ward, where she undergoes electroconvulsive therapy after failing to respond to various medications. After the heroin shipment descends into a melee, Harry and Tyrone travel to Miami to buy heroin directly from the wholesaler. However, Harry's arm has become gangrenous from heroin use, so the two stop at a hospital. The doctor realizes that Harry is a drug addict and calls the police, resulting in Harry and Tyrone being arrested. Back in New York City, a desperate Marion begins to work for a pimp, Big Tim, and participates in group sex for drugs. Sara's treatment leaves her in a catatonic state of dissociation, to the horror of Ada and Rae, who weep and try to comfort each other on a bench outside the hospital. Harry's arm is amputated above the elbow, and he breaks down in tears as he realizes Marion will not visit him (despite a gentle nurse trying to reassure him that she will come). Tyrone is subjected to grueling labor and psychological abuse from the racist prison guards, all while experiencing a painful heroin withdrawal. Marion returns home and lies on her sofa, clutching her score, and is surrounded by her crumpled and discarded clothing designs. Each of the four characters curls into a fetal position, ending with Sara, who imagines herself as the game show winner, with an engaged and successful Harry arriving as a guest and embracing her.

Due to the 21-century ecological crisis on Earth, for twenty years humankind has been terraforming Mars as its new home by sending algae to its surface. When oxygen levels begin decreasing, Mars-1 is sent to investigate, under Mission Commander Kate Bowman with a crew consisting of egotistical co-pilot Ted Santen, science officer Bud Chantilas, mechanical systems engineer Robby Gallagher, and two civilians: bioengineer Quinn Burchenal, and terraforming expert Chip Pettengill. Rule-breaking Gallagher is not Bowman's first choice, and while the crew nicknames him "space janitor," the two are drawn to each other. A gamma-ray burst resulting from a massive solar flare damages the ship as it reaches Mars. Bowman launches the crew to the planet's surface, and manages to eject the flames of a ship-wide fire into the vacuum and restore power to communicate with Houston. She learns that Mars-1's orbit will decay in 31 hours, but that they can burn to return to Earth before that occurs. The landing craft tumbles to the wrong location, and AMEE, the military robot navigator, is jettisoned. Chantilas is mortally wounded and tells the others to leave without him to save oxygen. The landing party finds no algae on the planet's surface, then discover that the HAB 1 has been destroyed, ensuring death when their spacesuit oxygen runs out. Pettengill follows Santen to the edge of a cliff, but when Santen mocks him, Pettingill strikes him, and he falls over the edge. Petengill then tells the others that Santen committed suicide. Gallagher decides to die quickly and opens his helmet, only to discover that Mars's atmosphere contains oxygen, more than the failed terraforming would have produced. Burchenal realizes they are near the Pathfinder rover, which will possibly have a working radio to contact Bowman. The trio set fire to the ruins of HAB 1 to warm them during the night. AMEE rejoins the crew, but when they discuss shutting it down and taking its guidance device, it switches to a military protection mode, wounds Burchenal and leaves, intent on picking off the crew one at a time. When they reach the Rover, Gallagher is able to build a radio; Houston picks up their signal on a long-unused frequency and alerts Bowman. Bowman tells them to hike to Kosmos, a failed Russian probe 100 km away, and launch themselves by fitting into the rock sample container, but later tells Gallagher the space will hold only two passengers. As they shelter in a cave from an ice storm, Gallagher tells the other two they'll be launching on Kosmos. Pettengill doesn't believe Gallagher will sacrifice himself. Meanwhile, Bowman receives orders from Houston that since it is unlikely the crew survived the ice storm, she is ordered to return home. Burchenal and Gallagher awaken to discover Pettengill has fled with the radio, then watch as he is chased and killed by AMEE. They recover the radio and find Pettengill's body in a patch of algae, full of Martian nematodes. Burchenal deduces that the nematodes have been eating the algae and excreting oxygen, and he captures a few in a sample vial as they could possibly save Earth. Drawn to Burchenal's wounds, the nematodes swarm him and start chewing through his suit. He tosses the vial to Gallagher and immolates himself. The burst, which consumes the algae patch and nematodes, is seen from Bowman on the Mars-1. She is able to contact an exhausted Gallagher and urges him to get to Kosmos. Gallagher discovers the Russian probe's battery is dead, and right before the Mars-1 enters communication blackout he tells Bowman to leave. Gallagher then bids her goodbye when AMEE flies overhead and he realizes he could use AMEE's core as a power source. He lures and disables AMEE with one of the probe's sample launchers, removing AMEE's battery before it self-destructs, then launches himself into orbit. Bowman sees the Kosmos in the path of the Mars-1, aborts her departure and tethers out to retrieve and then revive Gallagher, who is in cardiac arrest. Later, as Bowman tells him that Earth now considers him a hero, she admits he's not who she thought he was, and they finally kiss. The film ends with her voiceover musing that on the six-month journey home, she'll get to know the janitor.

In 1931, two sisters – 14-year-old Molly and 8-year-old Daisy – and their 10-year-old cousin Gracie are living in the Western Australian town of Jigalong. The town lies along the northern part of one of the fences making up Australia 's rabbit-proof fence (called Number one Fence), which runs for over one thousand miles. More than a thousand miles away in Perth, the official Protector of Western Australian Aborigines, A. O. Neville (called Mr. Devil by them), signs an order to relocate the three girls to the Moore River Native Settlement. The children are referred to by Neville as " half-castes ", because they each have Aboriginal mothers and white fathers. Neville had concluded that the Aboriginal people of Australia were a danger to themselves, and the "half-castes" must be bred out of existence. He plans to place the girls in a camp where they, along with all half-castes of that age range, both boys and girls, will grow up. They would be trained to work as labourers and servants to white families, which were regarded as "good" situations for them in life. It was assumed that they would marry whites, and so on through the generations, so that eventually the Aboriginal "blood" would diminish in society. The three girls are forcibly taken from their families at Jigalong by a local constable, Riggs. They were sent to the camp at the Moore River Native Settlement, in the south west, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Perth. While at the camp, the girls are housed in a large dormitory with dozens of other children, where they are strictly regimented by nuns. They are prohibited from speaking their native language, forced to pray as Christians, and subject to corporal punishment for any infractions of the camp's rules. Attempts at escape are also harshly punished, as seen in the film, where an escapee is beaten and has their hair cut off. During an impending thunderstorm that will help cover their tracks, Molly convinces the girls to escape and return to their home. During their flight, the girls are relentlessly pursued by Moodoo, an Aboriginal tracker from the camp. They eventually find their way back to the rabbit-proof fence, which they believe will lead them back to their home. They follow the fence for months, encountering a family who gives them clothes and food, as well as a camper who shows them a shortcut, which allows them to narrowly avoid Moodoo and Neville's agents. They also encounter a maid, who lets them stay at her room for a night, but they are discovered by her master, who is implied to be abusing her. After another narrow escape, Neville spreads word that Gracie's mother is waiting for her in the town of Wiluna. The information finds its way to an Aboriginal traveller who "helps" the girls. He tells Gracie about her mother and says they can get to Wiluna by train, causing her to leave the other two girls in an attempt to catch a train to Wiluna. Molly and Daisy soon walk after her and find her at a train station. They are not reunited, however, as Riggs appears and Gracie is recaptured. The betrayal is revealed by Riggs, who tells the man he will receive a shilling for his help. Knowing they are powerless to aid her, Molly and Daisy continue their journey. They lose the fence for a while travelling through a harsh desert, but Molly is eventually guided back by an eagle. In the end, after a nine-week journey through the harsh Australian outback, having walked the 1,670 km (1,040 mi) route along the fence, the two sisters return home and go into hiding in the desert with their mother and grandmother. Meanwhile, Neville realizes he can no longer afford the search for Molly and Daisy, and decides to end it.

In 2002, young Quinn Abercromby is visiting a London Underground construction project. Construction workers penetrate a cave and a dragon emerges from hibernation, incinerating the workers with its fire breath. The only survivor is Quinn, whose mother Karen, the project engineer, dies protecting him. The dragon flies out of the Underground and soon more dragons appear. The world's militaries fail to stop the spread of the dragon population and target large populated areas with nuclear weapons, leaving humans nearly extinct. 18 years later, in 2020, the dragons are dying off but have become increasingly aggressive in search of food. Quinn, along with his best friend Creedy, leads a community of survivors at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland where he plans to outlast dragons until they return into hibernation; as insurance, he shares his notes and plans with Jared, an orphan he rescued and is mentoring to take over as community leader. The community is short on supplies, causing unrest pending the harvest of their meager crops. Eddie and some of his followers steal a truck to harvest the crops for food but are attacked by a dragon. Quinn, Creedy, and Jared repel the dragon, which burns most of the crops, leaving the community without food. A group of heavily armed Americans led by Denton Van Zan then arrive in an armored convoy. Quinn is initially sceptical and suspects they are marauders, but Van Zan convinces him to let them stay when he reveals the dragons' main weakness: poor vision during twilight. With Quinn's help, Van Zan and his team slay the dragon who destroyed the crops. Van Zan introduces Quinn to Alex Jensen, his team's helicopter pilot and intelligence officer, and briefs Quinn on their mission. After killing hundreds of dragons, Alex discovered they were all female; she postulates that they reproduce quickly because the species relies on a single male to fertilize all the eggs en masse. Having tracked the spread of the dragons, they believe that the male is in London and that if they kill it, the dragons will no longer be able to reproduce, effectively eradicating the species. Quinn, suspecting that the male dragon is the same one that killed his mother, refuses to help, knowing that London is infested with dragons and that if they fail, the dragons will track them back to their shelter. Van Zan drafts the castle defenders, despite Quinn's objections. Van Zan, Alex, and some of the castle's men then depart for London, but true to Quinn's warnings, their caravan is attacked by the male dragon. Everyone except for Van Zan and Alex are killed. The dragon then finds the castle and attacks, killing many of its inhabitants. Quinn gets the survivors to an underground bunker, but they are trapped by rubble when the dragon returns; during this attack, Creedy is killed. Van Zan and Alex return and free everyone trapped in the bunker. Quinn leaves Jared in charge and decides to help Van Zan and Alex hunt down the male dragon. They fly to London and find hundreds of female dragons; one is cannibalized by the much larger male out of hunger. This scatters the female dragons and leaves the male alone. Van Zan coordinates a plan: split up, bait the male into attacking, ground him with explosive crossbow bolts, and shoot one into his mouth once he is ground level. The plan initially works, but the dragon detonates the first explosive bolt early with its fire breath and Van Zan is swallowed whole. Quinn and Alex gather the last explosives and lure the dragon to ground level, where Quinn fires an explosive down the dragon's throat, killing it. Three months later, Quinn and Alex erect a radio tower on a hill overlooking the North Sea, having seen no dragons since the battle in London. Jared arrives and reveals they have contact with French survivors who want to speak to the group's leader. Quinn declares Jared the new community leader and dedicates himself to rebuilding civilization with Alex.

In 1980, FBI agent Will Graham visits forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter to discuss a case. Graham has been working with Lecter on a psychological profile of a serial killer; Graham is certain the killer is a cannibal, based on the fact that organs taken from the victims are often used in cooking. He accidentally discovers a bookmarked sweetbreads recipe in Lecter's study that includes those organs, revealing Lecter as the killer. Lecter stabs him, but Graham stabs him back with arrowheads and shoots him before falling unconscious. Lecter is tried, found not guilty by reason of insanity, and is institutionalized at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Graham, traumatized, retires to Florida with his family. Several years later, another serial killer nicknamed the "Tooth Fairy" has murdered two families in different cities – the Jacobis and the Leedses – during full moons. With another full moon approaching, special agent Jack Crawford persuades Graham to review evidence and provide leads. Graham decides to consult Lecter for further insight after telling Crawford that the Tooth Fairy has "no face" to him, and he cannot determine how he was choosing the victim families. The Tooth Fairy is Francis Dolarhyde, who kills as directed by his alternate personality, which he calls the Great Red Dragon, after the William Blake painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, which is tattooed on his back. He believes that each victim brings him closer to becoming the Dragon. His psychopathology originates from childhood abuse by his grandmother. A letter from the Tooth Fairy, written on toilet paper, is discovered in Lecter's cell, expressing admiration for Lecter and suggesting that Lecter reply through the personals section of the National Tattler. Lloyd Bowman deciphers Lecter's reply, which is Will Graham's home address, sending his family into hiding. To lure out the Tooth Fairy, Graham gives an interview to Freddy Lounds, a National Tattler reporter, disparaging the killer as an impotent homosexual and that Lecter was only feigning interest in him. However, an enraged Dolarhyde kidnaps Lounds, glues him to a wheelchair, forces him to recant his allegations on tape, and sets him on fire, killing him. At his job at Chromalux, a St. Louis based home video conversion business, Dolarhyde reluctantly begins a relationship with blind co-worker Reba McClane. He struggles with genuine affection for her and his alter ego's demands that he kill her. Desperate to stop the Dragon's control over him, Dolarhyde goes to the Brooklyn Museum, tears apart the Blake painting, and eats it. Graham realizes that the Tooth Fairy knew the layout of his victims' houses from their home videos and concludes that the killer must be a Chromalux employee. He immediately goes there and is spotted by Dolarhyde. Panicked, Dolarhyde goes to Reba's house, suspecting that she may have betrayed him. He kills co-worker Ralph Mandy, takes a drugged Reba to his house, and sets it ablaze. Unable to kill her, he apparently shoots himself and Reba escapes. Graham is able to read Dolarhyde's journal and realizes he was made into a monster by systematic abuse. After an autopsy, it is revealed that Dolarhyde used Ralph's body to stage his own death. Dolarhyde infiltrates the Graham home in Florida and takes Will's son Josh hostage. To save Josh, Graham provokes Dolarhyde with his grandmother's abusive words and he attacks him. Both are wounded in a shootout, which ends when Will's wife Molly finally kills Dolarhyde. Graham, now on a sailboat with Molly and Josh, receives a letter from Lecter praising his work and bidding him well. Lecter's jailer, Dr. Frederick Chilton, tells him that he has a visitor, a young woman from the FBI.

Remy, a young rat with heightened senses of taste and smell, dreams of becoming a chef like his human idol, the late Auguste Gusteau. Conversely, the rest of his colony, including his older brother Émile and their father, Django, the clan leader, only eat for sustenance and are wary of humans. The rats live in an elderly woman's attic outside Paris, but when the woman discovers them, Remy becomes separated from the others during their hasty evacuation. Encouraged by an imaginary Gusteau, he explores until he finds himself on the roof of Gusteau's namesake restaurant. Remy sees the restaurant's new garbage boy, Alfredo Linguini, struggling to fix a leek soup he ruined. Remy sneaks in and improves the soup; Linguini notices and traps Remy while keeping his presence secret from Skinner, Gusteau's former sous-chef and the restaurant's new owner and head chef. Skinner confronts Linguini about the soup, but it is served by accident and unexpectedly becomes a hit. Colette Tatou, the restaurant's only female chef, persuades Skinner to keep Linguini and support Gusteau's motto, "Anyone can cook." Skinner demands Linguini replicate the soup but spots Remy, ordering Linguini to take him outside and kill him. Alone, Linguini realizes Remy understands him and persuades Remy to assist with cooking. Remy discovers that he can control Linguini's movements like a marionette by pulling on his hair while hiding under his toque. They recreate the soup and continue cooking at the restaurant. Colette begrudgingly trains Linguini but steadily appreciates him heeding her advice. Later, Remy reunites with his clan. After Remy tells Django that he intends to stay at the restaurant, Django shows him a group of exterminated rats to convince him that humans are dangerous, but Remy defies his warnings and leaves. Meanwhile, Skinner is shocked and enraged to discover through a letter from Linguini's late mother that Gusteau is Linguini's father, making him the rightful owner of the restaurant. After Skinner's lawyer verifies that Linguini is Gusteau's son, Skinner hides the evidence in an envelope; Remy steals the envelope and brings it to Linguini, who fires Skinner. The restaurant thrives as Remy's recipes become popular, and Linguini develops a romantic relationship with Colette. Food critic Anton Ego, who negatively reviewed the restaurant shortly before Gusteau's death, announces to Linguini that he will review the restaurant again the following day. After Linguini takes credit for Remy's cooking at a press conference, he and Remy have a falling out. As revenge, Remy leads his clan on a raid of the restaurant's pantries. Linguini arrives to apologize, but upon discovering the raid, he furiously expels Remy and his clan from the restaurant. The next day, Skinner captures Remy, who is quickly freed by Django and Émile. After returning to the restaurant, he and Linguini reconcile, and Linguini reveals Remy and his cooking techniques to his staff, who all immediately quit. Django, impressed by Remy's grit, summons the clan to help him cook while Linguini waits tables. Reminded of Gusteau's motto, Colette returns to help. Skinner and a health inspector attempt to interfere, but the rats tie them up, gag them and lock them in the pantry. Remy prepares confit byaldi, a variation of ratatouille, which evokes in Ego fond memories of his mother's cooking. Astonished and delighted, Ego asks to meet the chef and is stunned when introduced to Remy. The next day, he writes a glowing review, stating that he has come to understand Gusteau's motto and praising Remy without revealing that he is a rat. After Skinner and the health inspector are released and expose the rat infestation, Gusteau's is shut down, costing Ego his job and reputation. Remy, Linguini, and Colette open a bistro called La Ratatouille, which a now-happier Ego invests in and frequents. The rat colony settles into the bistro's attic as their new home.

In the 2020s, boxing between human fighters has been replaced with robots. In Texas, former boxer Charlie Kenton owns the robot Ambush until it is destroyed in a fight against a bull belonging to promoter and carnival owner Ricky. Having bet money he did not have with Ricky that Ambush would win, Charlie absconds before Ricky can collect. After the fight, Charlie learns his ex-girlfriend died, and he must attend a hearing about their 11-year-old son Max, whom he hasn't seen since birth. Max's maternal aunt Debra and her husband Marvin seek full custody. Charlie agrees to give up custody of Max for money, while Marvin negotiates that Charlie keeps custody for three months during their vacation. Settling into a gym owned by Bailey Tallet, the daughter of Charlie's former boxing coach, Charlie uses half the money to acquire the once-famous World Robot Boxing (WRB) robot Noisy Boy. He and Max take Noisy Boy to Crash Palace, an underworld boxing arena run by his friend Finn, where Noisy Boy is destroyed against robot boxer Midas. While searching for replacements in a junkyard and then sliding down a cliff, Max discovers Atom, an obsolete, dilapidated, but mostly intact sparring robot that breaks Max's fall and saves his life. Atom is designed to endure damage with a rare "shadow function" program, which mirrors and memorizes the handler's or opponent's movements. Charlie pits Atom against the robot Metro at Max's request, and the junkyard bot surprisingly comes out on top. Max integrates Noisy Boy's voice command hardware with Atom and convinces Charlie to optimize Atom's movements. Altogether, Charlie's boxing experience and Atom's shadow function build a winning streak that leads to Charlie being offered a WRB fight between Atom and the national champion, Twin Cities. The fight starts with Atom on the attack, but Twin Cities quickly takes the offensive. Charlie notices a hitch (a brief delay) whenever Twin Cities throws a right punch, and he exploits this to win by knockout. Elated by their success, Max challenges the undefeated fighting robot and Real Steel Champion of the World, Zeus. After the fight, Ricky and two henchmen attack Charlie for bailing earlier and rob him and Max of their winnings, prompting a defeated and dejected Charlie to return Max to Debra. When Charlie tries to convince an upset Max that he is better off without him, the boy reveals that all he ever wanted was for him to fight for him and be there as a father. After Max leaves, Charlie returns to Tallet's Gym and talks with Bailey. She persuades him to reconcile with Max, and Charlie convinces Debra to allow Max to come to the fight he set up with Zeus. As the fight begins, Zeus dominates the first round, but Atom manages to survive, stunning the audience. Ricky, who bet with Finn on Atom losing within the first round, tries to leave but is cornered by Finn and his bookmakers. As the fight continues, Atom lands multiple punches and withstands further attacks but makes no definitive progress. Late in the fourth round, Atom's voice-response controls are damaged, forcing Charlie to fight Zeus with Atom's shadow function for the fifth and final round, in which Charlie wards off Zeus with a rope-a-dope tactic long enough to deplete its power core, allowing Atom to begin a counterattack against an exhausted Zeus. With Zeus' programmers unable to compensate, the designer, Tak Mashido, intervenes and controls Zeus manually. Zeus is soundly beaten but narrowly avoids losing by knockout and wins by a judge's decision. Despite the match result and remaining undefeated, Zeus is left critically damaged, and Mashido's group is humiliated by the near-loss. The cheering crowd triumphantly labels Atom the "People's Champion," and Max and Charlie celebrate.