American dancer Jerry Travers comes to London to star in a show produced by the bumbling Horace Hardwick. While practicing a tap dance routine in his hotel bedroom, he awakens Dale Tremont on the floor below. She storms upstairs to complain, whereupon Jerry falls hopelessly in love with her and proceeds to pursue her all over London. Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace, who is married to her friend Madge. Following the success of Jerry's opening night in London, Jerry follows Dale to Venice, where she is visiting Madge and modelling/promoting the gowns created by Alberto Beddini, a dandified Italian fashion designer with a penchant for malapropisms. Jerry proposes to Dale, who, while still believing that Jerry is Horace, is disgusted that her friend's husband could behave in such a manner and agrees instead to marry Alberto. Fortunately, Bates, Horace's meddling English valet, disguises himself as a priest and conducts the ceremony; Horace had sent Bates to keep tabs on Dale. On a trip in a gondola, Jerry manages to convince Dale and they return to the hotel where the previous confusion is rapidly cleared up. The reconciled couple dance off into the Venetian sunset, to the tune of "The Piccolino".

Jack has developed a routine for his life that he follows in order to repress his urge to engage in vampiric cannibalism. He spends most of his time sleeping in his apartment and avoids human contact other than regular trips to a local diner, mass at a nearby church, bingo games, and to the hospital, where he purchases donated blood from a hospital intern, Jeremy. Upon returning home from one trip, Jack is confronted by mobsters Steve and Short, who are looking for Jeremy. Jack's routine is further interrupted by a phone call from his ex-girlfriend, Gillian, asking him to find their adult daughter, Andrea, who tried to contact him earlier that day. Unhappy, Jack agrees to locate Andrea, but stresses that he wants no further contact with Gillian. He finds Andrea and takes her with him to the diner he frequents, where she meets Cara, a waitress with a crush on Jack. While Jack slowly bonds with Andrea he sees visions of an old man with a goatee, wearing a porkpie hat, and also manages to foil Steve and Short's attempt to kidnap Jeremy. Jack is surprised when he discovers that Andrea can also see the man, as previously only Jack could see him. Out for vengeance, Short and Steve try to murder Jack, only for Jack to kill Short by tearing out his throat with his bare hands, which he then eats, giving in to his craving for human flesh. Afraid that he'll do the same to Andrea, Jack forces her to leave the apartment. Shortly afterwards Jack kills and eats an obnoxious neighbor. Later, he walks around the city trying to pick fights with various strangers, all of whom refuse to reciprocate his aggression. Eventually, he comes across three young men spoiling for a fight, culminating in him killing one or more of them. Jack ultimately receives a phone call from the mobsters, who inform him that they have killed Gillian and kidnapped Andrea and will kill her if he does not surrender. Jack tries to confront Alex, a local crime boss, and the man he believes is responsible, only for Alex to deny that he had anything to do with the kidnapping. Upset, Jack goes to the diner, where he bribes Cara into helping him save Andrea by offering her a million dollars. She discovers that Jack is actually the Biblical figure Cay'in (Cain). Jack ultimately discovers the reason why the mobsters were after Jeremy: he had borrowed a large sum of money to pay off his student loans, without repaying it. He also learns of Andrea's whereabouts and goes to rescue her. Alex reveals that he kidnapped Andrea as revenge for Jack killing Alex's father, a mobster Jack once worked for. Just as Jack is about to murder Alex, the man with the goatee arrives, prompting Jack to angrily confront him over his many previous murders. Jack demands to know why the man won't let him die. Jack ends up choosing to spare Alex in favor of helping Andrea seek medical attention. Before leaving with Cara and Andrea, Jack promises Alex that one day he will see the goateed man. After they have left, the goateed man appears to the badly injured Alex, greeting him with a resonant otherworldly-sounding voice.

Along the U.S.–Mexico border, a time bomb placed inside a vehicle explodes, killing two people. Mexican special prosecutor Miguel Vargas, who is honeymooning in town with his new American wife Susie, takes an interest in the investigation, which is being conducted by veteran police captain Hank Quinlan and his devoted, admiring, fanatically loyal assistant, Pete Menzies. Quinlan is a recovering alcoholic and an anti-Mexican bigot. He injured his leg long ago, and now walks with a prosthetic "game" leg and a cane. He implicates Sanchez, a young Mexican man secretly married to the victim's daughter. During the interrogation at Sanchez's apartment, Menzies finds two sticks of dynamite in a shoe-box in the bathroom. Vargas, who had accidentally knocked over the shoe-box a few minutes earlier and found it empty, accuses Quinlan of planting the dynamite, and begins to suspect that many of his previous convictions were similarly tainted. Quinlan angrily dismisses Vargas's allegation. Vargas learns that Quinlan had recently purchased dynamite and presents proof of this to Adair, the District Attorney, who resists investigating further. "Uncle" Joe Grandi, the acting leader of a crime family Vargas has been investigating, makes common cause with Quinlan against Vargas, and plies Quinlan with bourbon whiskey, causing him to break his sobriety. Grandi orders his family to capture and inject Susie with heroin, and while she is unconscious, he and Quinlan lock her in a hotel room. Quinlan then murders Grandi and leaves the body there with Susie; however, drunk and exhausted, he carelessly also leaves his cane in the room with them. When Susie wakes up and sees the body, she screams for help, and gets arrested on suspicion of the murder, which infuriates Vargas. Searching the room, Menzies finds Quinlan's cane, and realizes that Quinlan is the real killer. Vargas, reviewing Quinlan's past successes, confirms his suspicion that Quinlan has planted evidence in many of the cases. He confronts Menzies, who sadly agrees to work with him to expose Quinlan, by wearing a wire and getting a confession. Quinlan hears an echo from Vargas' recording device, and realizes that Menzies is betraying him. He shoots and mortally wounds Menzies. He then aims his gun at Vargas, but the dying Menzies shoots Quinlan before he can fire. Susie is exonerated and reunited with Vargas. As Quinlan dies, it is revealed that Sanchez has confessed to the original bombing.

Meek high school student Jerry Mitchell and his sister, Brei, are home alone while their parents are on vacation. The Weaver High School students this morning gossip about new student Buddy Revell, an allegedly violent psychopathic delinquent transferred from a continuation high school. Jerry's day begins at the school newspaper, where his best friend, Vincent Costello, is editor. Their journalism teacher suggests an article to welcome the new kid, Buddy, and assigns Jerry an interview. Jerry sees Buddy in the restroom and clumsily attempts to introduce himself, but realizes he is annoying Buddy. He tells Buddy to disregard the interview request and taps Buddy's arm affably. Buddy, who has a touch phobia, throws Jerry against a wall and declares the pair will fight outside school at 3:00 P.M. Buddy warns that running away or reporting the incident would only worsen matters. As time runs out, Jerry tries different strategies to avoid fighting. Attempts to reason with Buddy do not work. Vincent plants a switchblade in Buddy's locker to get him kicked out of school; Brei advises Jerry to skip school, but in his mom's car, Jerry finds the switchblade stuck in the steering wheel, and the ignition wires cut. Jerry tries to run, but an overzealous security guard, Duke, catches him. Duke finds the switchblade and takes Jerry to the Dean of Discipline, Mr. Dolinski, who warns that Jerry is under suspicion. Jerry's further attempts to avoid the fight are not successful until he steals cash from the school's student store. Buddy ultimately accepts the cash to call off the fight, but proclaims Jerry a coward for not even trying to fight. Seized with self-loathing and anger, Jerry confronts Buddy and demands the money back. Buddy refuses, and Jerry agrees to the fight. The clock finally reaches the appointed hour, and the fight begins before hundreds of eager students. Principal O’Rourke tries to break it up, but when he touches Buddy's shoulder, Buddy punches him out. Duke and Franny also intervene, but Buddy knocks out Duke and throws Franny aside. Jerry, though out-matched, stands his ground while being knocked down. Buddy takes out his brass knuckles, but Vincent distracts him, and he drops the weapon, which Brei picks up and slips to Jerry. Jerry desperately uses the brass knuckles to punch Buddy, knocking him out and winning the fight. During the subsequent excitement and police arrival, Buddy vanishes while Jerry is let go for the day. The next day, students show Jerry their admiration and support. They buy individual sheets of paper for $1 from the school store to make up the missing cash. Buddy appears, silencing the crowd, and returns the money to Jerry. Weaver is filled with new gossip, as Jerry, now allegedly dating his crush Karen, replaces Buddy as the hot topic. Rumors deviate far from the truth.

On Christmas Eve 1945, in Bedford Falls, New York, George Bailey contemplates suicide. The prayers of his family and friends reach Heaven, where guardian angel second class Clarence Odbody is assigned to save George to earn his wings. Clarence is shown flashbacks of George's life, beginning when 12 year-old George rescued his younger brother Harry from drowning in a frozen pond, leaving George deaf in his left ear. George later saves pharmacist Mr. Gower from accidentally poisoning a customer. Before starting college, George plans a world tour. He is reintroduced to Mary Hatch, who has had a crush on him since childhood. When his father dies from a stroke, George postpones his travel to settle the family business, Bailey Brothers Building and Loan. Avaricious board member Henry F. Potter, who owns most of the town's businesses, seeks to dissolve the company, but the board of directors votes to keep it open if George runs it. George works alongside his uncle Billy and gives his tuition savings to Harry, with the understanding Harry will run the company when he graduates. When Harry returns from college married and with a job offer from his father-in-law, George resigns himself to running the Building and Loan. George and Mary rekindle their relationship and marry, but forego their honeymoon and use the money to keep the company solvent during a run on the bank. Under George, the company establishes Bailey Park, a housing development to compete with Potter's slums. Potter entices George with a high-paying job, but George rebuffs him when he realizes that Potter's goal is to close the Building and Loan. On Christmas Eve, the town prepares a hero's welcome for Harry, a Navy fighter pilot awarded the Medal of Honor for preventing a kamikaze attack on a troopship. Billy goes to deposit $8,000 ($ 143,068 in 2025) of the Building and Loan's money in Potter's bank. He taunts Potter with a newspaper headline about Harry, but absentmindedly wraps the cash in Potter's newspaper. Potter keeps the money while Billy cannot recall how he misplaced it. While a bank examiner performs an audit, George fruitlessly retraces Billy's steps. Frustrated and angered by Billy's blunder, which may lead to scandal and jail, George resents the sacrifices he has made and the family that has kept him trapped in Bedford Falls. He appeals to Potter for a loan, but has only a meager life insurance policy for collateral. Potter scoffs that George is worth more dead than alive and, accusing him of bank fraud, phones the police. George flees Potter's office, gets drunk at a bar and prays for help. Contemplating suicide, he goes to a bridge, but before he can jump, Clarence falls into the water below and George rescues him. When George wishes he had never been born, Clarence takes him into an alternate timeline in which he never existed and Bedford Falls is called Pottersville, an unsavory town occupied by sleazy entertainment venues and callous people. No one knows George, including his mother and Mary, who is an " old maid ". He learns that Uncle Billy was committed to an institution after the Building and Loan failed and Mr. Gower was jailed for manslaughter for poisoning the customer. George also discovers Harry's grave; without George to save him, Harry drowned as a child, and without Harry to save them, the troops aboard the transport were killed. George races back to the bridge and begs Clarence, and then God, for his life back. His wish granted, he gleefully rushes home to await his arrest. Meanwhile, Mary and Billy have rallied the townspeople, who donate more than enough to replace the missing money. Harry arrives and toasts George as "the richest man in town". Among the donations is a gift from Clarence, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, with the inscription, "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings!" When a bell on their Christmas tree rings, George's youngest daughter, Zuzu, explains that "every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."

George Newman, a daydreaming slacker who bounces between jobs, is put in charge of Channel 62, a UHF television station, after his uncle Harvey Bilchik wins ownership of it in a poker game. George and his friend Bob Steckler realize the station is nearly bankrupt, subsisting on reruns of old shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and Mister Ed. When a package meant for its competitor, VHF station Channel 8, is misdelivered to Channel 62, George decides to deliver it himself, only to be rudely dismissed by RJ Fletcher, owner and CEO of Channel 8. Outside, George meets a janitor, Stanley Spadowski (whom RJ had recently and unfairly fired after falsely accusing him of discarding a missing report), and hires him at Channel 62. Bob and George create new programs, including the live children's show Uncle Nutzy's Clubhouse (hosted by George), but all of them unfortunately fail to increase viewership. While fretting over their finances, George neglects his girlfriend Teri's birthday dinner and she breaks up with him. The next day, during the Uncle Nutzy broadcast, a depressed George abandons the set, hands over hosting responsibilities to Stanley, and visits a bar with Bob to drown their sorrows, but discovers the patrons enjoying Stanley's slapstick antics on Channel 62. Inspired, the pair create various bizarre shows to fill the schedule, headlined by the re-titled Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse. Infuriated that Channel 62's ratings now rival those of Channel 8, including a majority of Top Five shows, RJ discovers Harvey owes his bookie Big Louie $75,000 by the end of the week, and offers to pay the debt in exchange for the deed to Channel 62. George launches a telethon to sell stock in the station, which would not only save it from RJ but also make it publicly owned. RJ's henchmen stall the telethon by kidnapping Stanley, whom George and several staff-members eventually rescue. RJ again attempts to stall the telethon with a televised public statement, but Channel 62 engineer Philo hijacks it with secretly recorded footage of RJ insulting the town's population to Teri's face during her visit to his Channel 8 headquarters. The telethon ends about $2,000 short of its goal. Harvey concedes victory to RJ who, instead of immediately taking ownership, gloats to the crowd. Meanwhile, a homeless man approaches George, asking to buy the remaining stock with money obtained by selling a rare 1955 doubled die cent that RJ, unaware of its true value, gave him when he was begging for change. George pays off Big Louie, Harvey signs the ownership transfer, and the station officially becomes publicly owned. Due to both its tardiness in filing its broadcast license renewal and the tirade that Philo broadcast, Channel 8 has its license revoked by the FCC, which subsequently shuts it down. After the Channel 62 staff and audience celebrate, George and Teri reconcile.

T. E. Lawrence dies in a motorcycle accident in 1935. At a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, it becomes clear that several influential Britons disliked him. During the First World War, Lawrence is a misfit lieutenant in the British Army, notable for his effrontery and education. Mr. Dryden of the Arab Bureau sends him to meet with Colonel Harry Brighton, who advises Prince Feisal in his revolt against the Turks. Lawrence is outraged when his guide is killed by Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish for drinking from the latter's well. Lawrence accuses Ali of being a barbarian and is dismayed to learn that the latter is Feisal's advisor. Relations between the British and the Arabs are tense. While the British will supply guns to the Arabs, they will not provide artillery, which would make Feisal an independent force. Feisal is impressed by Lawrence's familiarity with the Quran and his honesty about British interests in Arabia. Lawrence violates Brighton's orders by convincing Feisal to launch a surprise attack on the port of Aqaba to improve his supply lines. Ali protests, as Aqaba is protected from land attacks by the Nefud Desert and the local Turkish enforcer, Howeitat tribal leader Auda Abu Tayi. Feisal gives Lawrence just fifty men. Lawrence hires teenage orphans Daud and Farraj as his attendants. During the march to Aqaba, Lawrence wins over Feisal's men by returning to the desert to rescue Gasim. The grateful Arabs give Lawrence traditional clothing. Lawrence convinces Auda to switch sides by promising him a Turkish gold hoard at Aqaba. En route, Lawrence is shaken when he must execute Gasim to prevent a conflict between Feisal's men and Auda's. Lawrence and Auda capture Aqaba, but there is no gold. To placate Auda, Lawrence agrees to ask his superiors in Cairo for more money. Daud is drowned by quicksand along the way. In Cairo, Lawrence perplexes the British officers with his Arab clothes and his insistence that Farraj be treated with the same respect as a British officer. General Edmund Allenby promotes Lawrence to major and backs the Arabs with arms and money. Lawrence asks Allenby whether the Arabs are correct that the British seek to dominate Arabia and demands artillery for Feisal's army. Allenby lies to him on both counts. Lawrence launches a guerrilla war against the Turks. The American media romanticise Lawrence's exploits and make him famous, as American journalist Jackson Bentley is looking to highlight the "more adventurous aspects" of war to help draw the United States into the fight. Ali urges Lawrence to slow down, but the latter ignores him. Farraj is injured during a raid, and Lawrence kills him to save him from the Turks, who torture their captives. The Turks capture Lawrence while he scouts Deraa. The Turkish Bey orders him stripped, ogled, prodded and beaten—and, it is implied, raped. Ali rescues him, but the experience leaves Lawrence shaken and humbled. Dryden informs Lawrence about the Sykes–Picot Agreement, which will partition the Middle East between Britain and France. Allenby urges Lawrence to return to Arabia to support the "big push" on Damascus. Lawrence feels betrayed but complies. He recruits an army with little interest in Arab liberation. Lawrence hopes that if the Arabs can take Damascus before the British, they will be able to demand an independent Arab state. Lawrence's army sights a column of retreating Turkish soldiers who have just massacred the residents of Tafas. One of Lawrence's men is from Tafas and demands no prisoners. Ali insists on proceeding to Damascus, but the man charges alone and is killed. Lawrence takes up his battle cry, and the Arabs massacre the Turks. The Arabs beat the British to Damascus. Lawrence advises them to run the city without British support, but the tribesmen bicker constantly, the public utilities fail, and the understaffed hospitals barely function. Feisal discards Lawrence's dream of Arab independence in exchange for British support. Lawrence returns to the British Army. The British promote Lawrence to colonel and order him back to Britain. As he leaves Damascus, he looks longingly at the departing Arabs before his car is passed by a motorcyclist.

A kind, yet naïve, ethnography student named Shurik (Alexander Demyanenko), known from earlier films as a student at a polytechnic institute, goes to the Caucasus to learn ancient customs and traditions practised by the locals, including "myths, legends, and toasts". At the start of the film, Shurik is making his way along a mountain road in the Caucasus on a donkey. He comes upon a truck driver named Edik whose truck refuses to start. The donkey gets stubborn and neither man is able to get his respective mode of transportation going. Suddenly, a young woman named Nina (Natalya Varley) comes walking down the road. The donkey immediately begins to move after her and the truck starts working again. Nina is "a higher education student, an athlete, a member of the Komsomol, and last but not least — a beauty". Her uncle, Comrade Dzhabrail (Frunzik Mkrtchyan), works as a chauffeur for Comrade Saakhov (Vladimir Etush), who is the director of the regional agricultural cooperative and the wealthiest and most powerful man in town. Saakhov likes Nina and invites her to take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new civil registry. Shurik shows up to the ribbon-cutting completely drunk because the locals refused to tell him local toasts unless he drank to each of them. He ends up becoming disorderly and the militsiya carts him off. Meanwhile, Saakhov decides to marry Nina and strikes a deal with Dzhabrail to purchase the bride in return for 20 head of sheep and an imported Finnish Rosenlew refrigerator. Rather than asking for Nina's agreement (which her uncle realizes would be impossible to get), they decide to kidnap her instead. The trio of the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro, hired to do the job, find it difficult to get Nina alone because she has started to spend a lot of time with Shurik. At this point, Saakhov has the idea to unwittingly get Shurik in on it by telling him that the kidnapping of the bride is a local custom. Dzhabrail meets with Shurik in a restaurant and tells him this story, lying to him that Nina has already agreed to marry Saakhov and that she wants to be kidnapped in order to comply with tradition. Shurik is devastated, because he is in love with Nina, but thinking that this is what she wants, he agrees to help. Nina has gone camping and spends a night in a sleeping bag. Shurik bids her an emotional good-bye; misunderstanding him, she shrugs and also says good-bye. Shurik then zips her up in her sleeping bag and signals to the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro, who run over to grab the helpless Nina and transport her to Saakhov's dacha. Soon after, Shurik learns that the kidnapping was real and that the story about it being a custom was a lie. Shurik immediately runs to the militsiya, but Saakhov (who Shurik does not realize is involved) is waiting for him outside. Saakhov explains to Shurik that if he says anything, the militsiya will arrest him as a co-conspirator and suggests they go straight to the local prosecutor instead. Shurik agrees, but Saakhov tricks him by leading him to a house where there is a party going on and getting him to drink, then calling doctors from the local psychiatric clinic and having Shurik committed. Meanwhile, at Saakhov's dacha, the trio of kidnappers lock Nina in a room and try to cheer her up by bringing food and singing songs. Nina pretends to be interested, but then when the kidnappers are distracted, she tries to run away. She is stopped by her uncle and forced to return to her room, where she is locked up. Saakhov arrives with a bottle of wine and goes in to speak with Nina, but runs out moments later covered from head to toe in the wine. Deciding to give Nina some time to "think about it", Dzhabrail and Saakhov drive away from the dacha, leaving the trio of kidnappers in charge of Nina. At the hospital, Shurik finally realizes that Saakhov is the one behind the kidnapping. Shurik escapes from the psychiatric ward and happens to run into Edik, the truck driver he had met at the beginning of the film. Together, they drive toward Saakhov's dacha. When they arrive, they have changed into doctors' uniforms and convince the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro that they are doing emergency vaccinations against a dangerous hoof-and-mouth disease that is affecting the area. Under this guise, they inject the trio with sedatives. While Edik is performing the injections, Shurik goes up to Nina's room. Still thinking that he was in on the kidnapping, she hits him over the head with a fruit plate, runs out of the room, jumps out of a first-floor window, and steals one of the trucks. A car chase ensues in which the kidnappers chase Nina while Shurik and Edik chase the kidnappers. The kidnappers catch up with Nina, commandeer her vehicle, and tie her up, but at that moment the sedative begins to take effect and they all fall asleep. Shurik catches up with the truck right before it veers off the road and stops it. He begins to untie Nina, but she attacks him, still thinking that he is in league with the kidnappers. To reveal his feelings for her, Shurik kisses Nina before he finishes untying her. The action moves to Saakhov's apartment at night. He is alone. Suddenly, Nina, Shurik, and Edik appear, holding rifles, dressed in masks, and calling themselves the enforcers of the "law of the mountains". Saakhov does not recognize them and, scared to death, jumps out of the window. Edik shoots him with his shotgun, which turns out to be loaded with nothing more than salt. He hits him in the rump and, when Saakhov is brought up on charges in court the next day, he is unable to sit. The film ends with Shurik walking Nina to a bus and then following after her on his donkey.

Bill is an elderly ex- vaudevillian who lives alone, often looking at photographs of his deceased wife. Each day after breakfast, he goes to the supermarket, where he is friendly to employees, often charming them with a magic trick. Kate is a 14-year-old teenager who gets in a squabble with an intimidating man named Demesta. The girl, who is wrapped in a towel and apparently otherwise nude, has locked herself in a bathroom to evade him. Demesta pounds on the door and demands to know the details of a drug deal that Kate has fouled up. Kate escapes through the window, wearing only the towel, while a police officer knocks on the door of the apartment and grapples with Demesta. He is chased down the street while she goes in a different direction. Kate slips down a hillside staircase, losing the towel in the process, exposing dorsal nudity while fleeing in the nude. Bill comes out of the grocery store, talking to the bag boy about magic tricks, and opens the trunk of his Pierce Arrow. They both see Kate, lying naked in the trunk, covered partially by a deflated car tire inner tube. Stunned, Bill convinces the bag boy that it was just an illusion and drives away. Stopping on a secluded street, he confronts Kate, who asks him to take her to his house. He reluctantly agrees. Bill asks Kate what's going on but she refuses to answer. He allows her to take shelter in his home and loans her some of his clothes. Kate attempts to escape by dropping out of a window, spraining her ankle in the process. This attracts the attention of Bill's nosy neighbors, Stan and Sue. Next, Bill goes to see his friend Max in a nursing home. Max, another ex-vaudevillian and a former roommate, is despondent and non-verbal. Bill visits him daily, cheerfully describing his daily activities. Today, he tells Max about Kate. Later, Bill is confronted by his daughter, Shirl and her husband, Harris. Shirl says Bill is senile and tries to get power of attorney of his bank account. Bill refuses and Shirl becomes furious. Meanwhile, Demesta is still in a rage. He intimidates Kate's friend Roy, and vows to find Kate, implying that he will harm her. Stan and Sue step up their meddling, calling Shirl about Kate. Shirl returns, demands to see Kate, and is put off by Bill again, who denies harboring a juvenile. Kate finally confesses to Bill that she is on the run from a drug dealer. She explains that Demesta gave her money to make a connection but that she threw the cache into the sewer in a moment of panic. Bill advises her to go to the police but Kate is afraid to do so. That night, Bill's poker buddies arrive and he introduces them to Kate. The evening is interrupted when Shirl returns with two police officers. Kate is concealed with a levitation magic trick and his daughter becomes more furious. The next day, before Bill leaves to visit Max, Kate relates the story of a boy she once knew who also refused to talk and how he started talking once all the other kids ignored him. During the visit, Bill tells Max that he will never come to see him again unless he talks. Max breaks down and begs Bill not to leave. Bill returns home to find Kate gone and becomes despondent. Meanwhile, Kate returns to her foster home, collects her belongings, and meets Roy at school. Kate reveals that she never made the connection and still has the $20,000 in cash. Shocked, he tells her that Demesta will kill her. She says she plans to leave town with the money. When Roy tells her that Demesta knows where she has been hiding, she worries for Bill. After she returns to Bill's house, Demesta forces his way in and a chase ensues. Bill holds Demesta at bay with a sword and incapacitates him. The police are summoned and Demesta is arrested. Shirl arrives and Bill asks her for a favor. Max packs his belongings, preparing to go back home with Bill, when he learns that Shirl and Harris have agreed to act as foster parents for Kate. Bill explains that Kate will stay with him and Max on the week-ends. The film ends with the threesome departing together.

Veronica Guerin, a neophyte crime reporter for the Sunday Independent, becomes aware of how much Dublin's illegal drug trade is encroaching upon the lives of its working class, especially the children, and vows to expose the men responsible. Guerin begins by interviewing the pre-pubescent addicts who "shoot up" on the street or in abandoned sections of the Dublin housing estates. Her investigation requires her to establish a relationship with trafficker John Traynor, who provides her with a great deal of information about the criminal underworld. Traynor is willing to assist Guerin but is not above misleading her in order to protect himself from Dublin mob boss John Gilligan. Notably, he manages to convince her that Gilligan's rival Gerry Hutch, a gangster known as "The Monk", is running heroin. Guerin pursues Hutch, wasting time and resources before discovering that he has no involvement in drugs. Guerin and her family soon become targets: a bullet is fired through their window and Guerin is shot in the leg by a gunman on her own doorstep. Despite being urged by her loved ones to halt the investigation, Guerin personally confronts Gilligan and is harshly beaten, with Gilligan threatening to rape and kill her son if she doesn't back off. Rather than press charges, which would necessitate her removal from the story, Guerin forges ahead with the investigation. On 26 June 1996, Guerin appears in court to respond to parking tickets and speeding penalties that she had ignored. She is given a nominal fine of IR£100. En route home, she calls her mother and then her husband to report the good news. She is speaking to her office while stopped at a traffic light on the Naas Dual Carriageway when two men riding a motorcycle pull up beside her. The driver breaks the window of her car and shoots her six times. The two flee and dispose of the bike and gun in a nearby canal. Guerin is mourned by her family, friends, associates and the country. Her violent death results in the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau, and Gilligan, along with several of his men, are tried and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The epilogue states that "Veronica Guerin's writing turned the tide in the drug war. Her murder galvanised Ireland into action. Thousands of people took to the streets in weekly anti-drug marches, which drove the dealers out of Dublin and forced the drug barons underground. Within a week of her death, in an emergency session of the Parliament, the Government altered the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland to allow the High Court to freeze the assets of suspected drug barons."

The entity known as the Beast and his army of Slayers travel the galaxy in a mountain-like spaceship called the Black Fortress, intent on enslaving the planet Krull, as he has done to many other worlds. Ynyr recites the prophecy that was given for him to know: " A girl of ancient name shall become queen. She shall choose a king, and together they shall rule our world, and their son shall rule the galaxy. " Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa plan to marry in the hope that their two kingdoms' combined forces can defeat the Beast's army. However, the Slayers attack before the wedding is completed, devastating the native Krull armies, wounding Colwyn, and kidnapping Lyssa. Colwyn is nursed back to health by Ynyr, the Old One. Ynyr tells Colwyn that the Beast can be defeated with the Glaive, an ancient, magical, five-pointed weapon resembling a large throwing star with retractable blades. Colwyn retrieves the Glaive from a mountain cave, and sets out to find the Black Fortress, which teleports to a new location every sunrise. As they travel, Colwyn and Ynyr are joined by the magician Ergo "the Magnificent" and a band of nine thieves and fighters — Torquil, Kegan, Rhun, Oswyn, Bardolph, Menno, Darro, Nennog, and Quain. The cyclops Rell later joins the group. Colwyn's group travels to the home of the Emerald Seer and his apprentice, Titch. The Emerald Seer uses a crystal to view where the Fortress will teleport next, but the Beast remotely crushes the crystal with magic. The group travels to a swamp that the Beast's magic cannot penetrate, but Darro is lost to a Slayer attack, and Menno to quicksand. A changeling agent of the Beast kills the Emerald Seer and assumes its victim's form, but the agent is discovered and killed by Rell and Colwyn. Another changeling is instructed by the Beast to seduce Colwyn. This is meant to convince Lyssa that Colwyn does not love her. However, he rejects the changeling's advances, and Lyssa – witnessing this through a vision provided by the Beast — affirms that love triumphs over might. The Beast, though, forces her to consider marrying him so that he will halt the Slayers' attacks. Ynyr leaves the group to seek the Widow of the Web, an enchantress who loved Ynyr long ago and was exiled to the lair of the Crystal Spider for murdering their only child. The Widow reveals where the Black Fortress will be at sunrise. She also gives Ynyr the sand of an enchanted hourglass to keep the Crystal Spider at bay and the injured Ynyr alive. As the Crystal Spider attacks the Widow, Ynyr returns to the group to reveal the location of the Black Fortress. As he speaks, he loses the last of the sand and dies. The group captures and rides magical Fire Mares to reach the Black Fortress. The Slayers at the Fortress kill Rhun, while Rell sacrifices himself to hold open the crushing spaceship doors long enough to allow the others to enter. Quain, Nennog, and Kegan are killed as they make their way through the fortress. Ergo transforms into a tiger to save Titch from a Slayers' attack. Colwyn, Torquil, Bardolph, and Oswyn are trapped inside a large dome. The latter three fall through an opening and are trapped between walls studded with huge spikes, which kill Bardolph. Colwyn breaches the dome and finds Lyssa. He attacks the Beast with the Glaive, which becomes embedded in the Beast's body. With nothing to defend themselves, Lyssa and Colwyn quickly finish their wedding ritual. This gives them the power to manipulate fire, with which Colwyn slays the Beast. The Beast's death frees Torquil and Oswyn, and they rejoin Colwyn, Lyssa, Ergo and Titch. The survivors make their way out of the crumbling fortress, which is pulled into space. As the heroes return home, Ynyr repeats the prophecy that the son of the queen and king shall rule the galaxy.

In Glasgow, a motorcyclist retrieves an inert young woman from the roadside and places her in the back of a van, where a naked woman dons her clothes. After buying clothes and make-up at a shopping centre, the woman drives the van from town to town, picking up single men with few friends. She lures a man into a dilapidated house. As he undresses, following the woman into a void, he is submerged in a liquid abyss. At a beach, the woman attempts to pick up a swimmer, but is interrupted by the cries of a drowning couple attempting to rescue their dog, as it is pulled out to sea. The swimmer rescues the husband, but the husband rushes back into the water to save his wife and both drown. As the swimmer lies exhausted on the beach, the woman strikes his head with a rock, drags him to the van, and drives away, ignoring the couple's distraught baby. The motorcyclist retrieves the swimmer's belongings, ignoring the baby crying on the beach. The woman visits a nightclub and picks up another man. At the house, he follows her into the void and is submerged in the liquid. Suspended beneath the surface, he sees the swimmer floating naked beside him, alive but bloated and immobile. When he reaches to touch him, the swimmer's body collapses, leaving only his empty skin floating in the liquid as a red mass empties through a trough. The next day, the woman receives a rose from a street vendor, purchased by another man in traffic. She listens to a radio report about the missing family from the beach. The woman enters a dark room and is examined by the motorcyclist. She seduces a lonely man with facial tumours but lets him leave after examining herself in a mirror. The motorcyclist intercepts the man and bundles him into a car, then sets out in pursuit of the woman. In the Scottish Highlands, the woman abandons the van in the fog. She walks to a restaurant and attempts to eat cake, but retches and spits it out. On a bus, she meets a man who offers to help her. At his house, he prepares a meal for her and they watch television. Alone in her room, she examines her body in a mirror. They visit a ruined castle, where the man carries her over a puddle and helps her down some steps. At his house, they kiss and begin to have sex, but the woman stops and examines her genitals. Wandering in a forest, the woman meets a commercial logger and shelters in a bothy. She wakes up to find the logger molesting her. She runs into the wilderness but he catches and attempts to rape her. He tears her skin, revealing a featureless body. As the woman extricates herself from her skin, the man douses her in fuel and burns her alive. The motorcyclist looks out across a snowy field.