In 2169, people are genetically engineered to stop aging on their 25th birthday, when a one-year countdown on their forearm begins. When it reaches zero, the person "times out" and dies instantly.Time has thus become the universal fiat currency, transferred directly between people or stored on flashdrive type devices, some in secure bank vaults. Distinct socioeconomic caste "Time Zones" exist; Dayton is the poorest, a manufacturing hub and "ghetto" where people rarely have over 24 hours on their clocks, whereas in New Greenwich, the affluent Zone of plutocrats, people have enough time to be essentially immortal. Will Salas (Timberlake) is a 28-year-old Dayton factory worker who lives with his mother, Rachel. One night, he rescues a drunken 105-year-old Henry Hamilton, from Fortis and his Minutemen gangsters, a group of time-robbing thugs. Hamilton, who has 116 years on his clock, reveals to Will that the people of New Greenwich hoard most of the time, while constantly increasing prices to impoverish people in less prosperous districts. The next morning, he transfers all but 5 minutes of his time to a sleeping Will, then times out before Will can stop him. Raymond Leon, the leader of police-like "Timekeepers", erroneously assumes Will robbed Hamilton. Heeding his friend Borel's warning against possessing excess time in Dayton, Will donates 10 years (the length of their friendship) to him before departing, planning to relocate to New Greenwich with Rachel.However, that night, Rachel suddenly finds herself with insufficient bus fare to return to Dayton, having exhausted her earnings from two days' work in the Garment District to liquidate a two-day loan. The ambivalent driver advises her to run, but she arrives a few seconds too late for Will to rescue her and times out in his arms. The next morning, he furiously decides to avenge her death by visiting New Greenwich, internalizing Hamilton's words regarding the inequity of the Time System. Arriving in New Greenwich in style, Will meets Philippe Weis, a time-loaning businessman, and his daughter Sylvia at a casino. While playing poker, Will nearly times out but eventually wins a millennium. Sylvia invites him to a party that night at her father's. Will then purchases a classic Jaguar E-Type convertible for 59 years of his time (plus tax, the salesman tells him) and drives it to the party. Will dances with Sylvia and convinces her to swim in the ocean, something that, out of fear, the rich never do. Timekeepers later arrive and detain Will, who claims his innocence in Hamilton's death. Rather than attempting to prove Will's guilt, Raymond simply confiscates all but two hours of Will's time, explaining it does not belong in Dayton. Will escapes, taking Sylvia hostage and driving back to Dayton in the Jag. Fortis's gang sets up a roadblock which causes Will to crash into a flood control channel, knocking them unconscious. The gang arrives and steals most of their time, leaving Will and Sylvia with only 30 minutes each. They abandon the wrecked car and visit Borel's residence to retrieve some spare time but, his wife Greta tearfully explains that he has drunk himself to death. As their time is running out, the two obtain a day each by pawning Sylvia's diamond earrings. Will then calls Philippe to request a 1,000-year ransom to be paid into the time-mission for the desperate, releasing Sylvia when he declines. Raymond encounters Will, but when Sylvia accidentally shoots him in the shoulder, Will transfers two hours to Raymond, allowing him to survive long enough for his squad to retrieve him, and purloins his car. Now committed to crashing the system, Will and Sylvia rob Weis time banks, donating the extra capsules to the destitute, but soon realize that prices are simply increased to compensate for the extra time. Wanted and on the lam they rent out an entire hotel to hide.Fortis's gang finds them, but Will successfully times out Fortis in a wrist wrestling match by using his deceased father's technique and kills his Minutemen. He and Sylvia then decide to rob Philippe's vault of a 1,000,000-year capsule. Raymond pursues them from New Greenwich to Dayton, where he was born but eventually escaped, but fails to stop them from distributing the stolen time. Having neglected to collect his per diem, he times out. Will and Sylvia nearly time out themselves, but survive by taking Raymond's salary. Television reports show factories in Dayton shutting down as everyone abandons their jobs due to possessing sufficient time to sustain themselves. Having witnessed the consequences of Raymond's obsession with the pair, his colleague Jaeger orders the Timekeepers to return home. Will and Sylvia progress to larger banks, still attempting to level the system.

Two engineers, Aaron and Abe, supplement their day jobs with entrepreneurial tech projects, working out of Aaron's garage. During one such research effort involving electromagnetic reduction of objects' weight, the two men accidentally discover an 'A-to-B' causal loop side-effect: objects left in the weight-reducing field exhibit temporal anomalies, proceeding normally (from time 'A,' when the field was activated, to time 'B,' when the field is powered off), then backward (from 'B' back to 'A') in a continuously repeating sequence, such that objects can leave the field in the present, or at some previous point. Abe refines this proof-of-concept and builds a stable time-apparatus ("the box"), sized to accommodate a human subject. Abe uses this box to travel six hours into his own past—as part of this process, Abe stays in a hotel room, isolating himself from any communication with the outside world, so as not to interact or interfere with the outside world, after which he enters the box then waits inside for six hours (thus going back in time six hours). Once he exits the box, Abe travels across town, explains the proceedings to Aaron, and brings Aaron back to the self-storage facility housing the box. At the facility, they watch the earlier version of Abe enter the box. Abe and Aaron repeat Abe's six-hour experiment multiple times over multiple days, making profitable same-day stock trades armed with foreknowledge of the market's performance. The duo's divergent personalities – Abe cautious and controlling, Aaron impulsive and meddlesome – put subtle strain on their collaboration and friendship. Additionally, the time travel is taxing on Abe and Aaron's bodies: effectively their days become 36 hours long when including the extra time afforded by the box. As the film progresses, the two men begin to notice alarming side effects of time travel which take the form of earbleeds. Later, they notice their handwriting progressively worsening. The tension between Abe and Aaron comes to a head after a late-night encounter with Thomas Granger (father to Abe's girlfriend, Rachel), who appears inexplicably unshaven and exists in overlap with his original suburban self. Granger falls into a comatose state after being pursued by Aaron; Aaron theorizes that, at some unknown point in the future, Granger entered the "box", with timeline-altering consequences. Abe concludes that time travel is simply too dangerous and enters a secret second box (the "failsafe box", built before the experiment began and kept continuously running), traveling back four days to prevent the experiment's launch. Cumulative competing interference wreaks havoc upon the timeline. Future-Abe sedates Original-Abe (so he will never conduct the initial time travel experiment) and meets Original-Aaron at a park bench (so as to dissuade him), but finds that Future-Aaron has gotten there first (armed with pre-recordings of the past conversations, and an unobtrusive earpiece), having brought a disassembled "third failsafe box" four days back with his own body. Future-Abe faints at this revelation, overcome by shock and fatigue. The two men briefly and tentatively reconcile. They jointly travel back in time, experiencing and reshaping an event where Abe's girlfriend Rachel was nearly killed by a gun-wielding party crasher. After many repetitions, Aaron, forearmed with knowledge of the party's events, stops the gunman, becoming a local hero. Abe and Aaron ultimately part ways; Aaron considers a new life in foreign countries where he can tamper more broadly for personal gain, while Abe states his intent to remain in town and dissuade/sabotage the original "box" experiment. Abe warns Aaron to leave and never return. Multiple "box-aware" versions of Aaron circulate—at least one Future-Aaron has shared his knowledge with Original-Aaron, via discussions, voice-recordings, and an unsuccessful physical altercation. Future-Abe watches over Original-Abe, going to painstaking extremes to keep him unaware of the future. An Aaron directs French-speaking workers in the construction of a warehouse-sized box.

In 1980s Germany at the height of the Cold War, 19-year-old Karl Koch finds the world around him threatening and chaotic. Inspired by the fictitious character Hagbard Celine (from Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea 's 1975 book The Illuminatus! Trilogy), he starts investigating the backgrounds of political and economic power and discovers signs that make him believe in a worldwide conspiracy. At a meeting of the Chaos Computer Club, Karl gets to know the student David. David and Karl are able to hack into the global data network — still in its early stages — and their belief in social justice propels them into espionage for the KGB. Driven by contacts with a drug dealer—and by increasing KGB pressure to hack into foreign systems—Karl spirals into a cocaine dependency and grows increasingly alienated from David. In a drug-addled state, Karl begins to sit in front of his computer for days at a time. Perpetually sleepless, he also grows increasingly delusional. When David publicly reveals the espionage activity in which the two men have been engaged, Karl is left alone to face the consequences. Collapse soon follows. Karl is taken to a hospital to deal with his drug addiction and mysteriously dies after his supposed hacking of Chernobyl.

In 1998, Robert Bilott, from Cincinnati, is a corporate defense lawyer at law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister. Wilbur Tennant, a farmer and friend of Bilott's grandmother, asks him to investigate the deaths of numerous dairy cattle at his farm in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Tennant connects the deaths to chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont and gives Robert a large case of videotapes related to the case. Robert visits the Tennants' farm, where he learns that 190 cows have died after exhibiting unusual medical conditions, including bloated organs, blackened teeth, and tumors. DuPont attorney Phil Donnelly says he is not aware of Tennant's concerns, but will help in any way he can. Bilott files a small suit to gain information through legal discovery of the chemicals dumped at a nearby landfill. When he finds nothing useful in the EPA report, he realizes the chemicals might be unregulated. Bilott confronts Donnelly at an industry event, leading to an angry exchange. In response to Bilott's request to broaden discovery, DuPont sends hundreds of boxes. Bilott finds numerous references to something called "PFOA", and with difficulty learns that it is perfluorooctanoic acid, which DuPont uses to manufacture Teflon, a substance widely used in nonstick frying pans and carpeting. The company has been running tests of the effect of PFOA for decades, finding that it causes cancer and congenital disabilities, but kept the findings private. Dupont dumped several tons of toxic sludge in a landfill uphill from Tennant's farm. PFOA and similar compounds are forever chemicals, which slowly accumulate and never leave the bloodstream. The local community shuns Tennant for suing their most significant employer. Bilott encourages him to accept DuPont's settlement, but he refuses, wanting justice, and reveals that both he and his wife have cancer. Bilott sends a summary and supporting documentation of the DuPont issues to the EPA and United States Department of Justice, among others. The EPA fines DuPont $16.5 million. Bilott is unsatisfied, as he realizes the residents of Parkersburg will continue to suffer the effects of the PFOA and more will likely die from disease. He seeks an agreement for DuPont to pay for medical monitoring for all residents of Parkersburg in one large class-action lawsuit. However, DuPont sends a deceptive letter notifying residents of the presence of PFOA, thus starting the statute of limitations running, giving any further legal action only 12 months to begin. Since PFOA is unregulated, Robert's team argues that the corporation is liable, as the amount in contaminated waters was 6 times higher than the 1 part per billion deemed safe by DuPont's internal documents. In court, DuPont claims that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has recently found that 150 parts per billion are safe (contradicting DuPont's scientific findings since the 1970s). The locals protest, and the story becomes national news. DuPont agrees to settle for benefits valued at over $300 million. It is agreed in mediation that the company will carry out medical monitoring only if it is proven that PFOA caused the ailments, and an independent science panel is set up. To gather data, Robert's team tells locals they can get their settlement money after they donate blood samples for testing. Nearly 70,000 people donate to the study. Seven years pass with no results from the science panel. Tennant dies, and Bilott suffers financially following several pay cuts, since the case is not providing revenue. His marriage and health are strained. Finally, the science panel contacts Bilott and tells him that they have linked PFOA exposure to an increased incidence of two types of cancer and four other diseases in Parkersburg. His celebration is short-lived, however, as DuPont decides to withdraw from the mediated agreement. Bilott defiantly decides to sue the company separately for each Parkersburg resident with an illness that would have been covered by the medical monitoring (which currently includes over 3,500 individuals), and juries award his first three clients multi-million dollar settlements. In response, DuPont settles the remaining cases for $671 million.

Unemployed number theorist Max Cohen, who lives in a drab apartment in Chinatown, Manhattan, believes everything in nature can be understood through numbers. He suffers from cluster headaches, extreme paranoia, hallucinations, and schizoid personality disorder. His only social interactions are with his mathematics mentor, Sol Robeson (now disabled from a stroke), and those who live in his building: Jenna, a little girl fascinated by his ability to perform complex calculations, and Devi, a young woman living next door who sometimes speaks with him. Max tries to program his computer, named Euclid, to make stock predictions. Euclid malfunctions, printing out a seemingly random 216-digit number, as well as a single stock pick at one-tenth its current value, then crashes. Disgusted, Max throws away the printout. The next morning, he learns that Euclid's pick was accurate but cannot find the printout. When Max mentions the number, Sol becomes unnerved and asks if it contained 216 digits. He reveals that he came across the same number years ago and urges Max to take a break from his work. Max meets Lenny Meyer, a Hasidic Jew who does mathematical research on the Torah. Lenny demonstrates some simple Gematria, the correspondence of the Hebrew alphabet to numbers, and explains that some people believe the Torah is a string of numbers forming a code sent by God. Intrigued, Max notes that some of the concepts parallel other mathematical concepts, such as the Fibonacci sequence. Agents of a Wall Street firm approach Max. One of them, Marcy Dawson, offers him a classified computer chip called "Ming Mecca" in exchange for the results of his work. Using the chip, Max has Euclid analyze mathematical patterns in the Torah. Once again, Euclid displays the 216-digit number before crashing. As Max writes down the number, he realizes that he knows the pattern, undergoes an epiphany, and loses consciousness. After waking up, Max appears to become clairvoyant and visualizes the stock market patterns he sought. His headaches intensify, and he discovers a vein-like bulge protruding from his right temple. Max has a falling-out with Sol after Sol urges him to quit his work. Dawson and her agents grab Max on the street and try to force him to explain the number, having found the printout Max threw away. Attempting to use the number to manipulate the stock market, the firm instead caused the market to crash. Driving by, Lenny rescues Max, but takes him to his companions at a nearby synagogue. They ask Max to give them the 216-digit number, believing it was meant for them to bring about the Messianic Age, as the number represents the unspeakable name of God. Max refuses, insisting the number has been revealed to him alone. Max flees and visits Sol, only to learn from his daughter, Jenny, that he died from another stroke. He finds a piece of paper with the number in his study. At his own apartment, Max experiences another headache but does not take his painkillers. Believing the number and the headaches are linked, Max tries to concentrate on the number through his pain. After passing out, Max goes to the bathroom where he stares at himself in the mirror before lighting a match and burning the piece of paper with the number. Max then takes a power drill to his own head, trepanning himself in an effort to find relief. Sometime later, Jenna approaches Max in a park and asks him to do several calculations, including 748 ÷ 238 (an approximation for pi). Max smiles and says that he does not know the answer, seemingly at peace.

In 2017, widespread use of remotely controlled androids called "surrogates" enables people to operate an idealized body (a more youthful version of their own, or a wholly different one) from the safety of their homes, becoming slovenly and housebound as a consequence. Protected from harm, a surrogate's operator can indulge in risky behaviour, and they can make their surrogate perform acrobatics beyond human capability. In Boston, FBI agent Tom Greer has been estranged from his wife Maggie since their son's death in a car crash several years before. He never sees her outside of her surrogate and she criticizes his desire to interact via their real bodies. Tom and his partner, Agent Jennifer Peters, investigate the death of two people who were killed when their surrogates were destroyed at a Fort Point club. Jared Canter, one of the victims, is the son of Dr. Lionel Canter, the inventor of surrogates and the former head of their manufacturing company, Virtual Self Industries (VSI). The two determine that a human, Miles Strickland, used a new type of weapon to overload the surrogates' systems and kill their operators. After locating Strickland, Tom attempts to bring him into custody. Strickland uses the weapon, killing six police officers, and injures Tom during the chase; Tom inadvertently crash-lands into an anti-surrogate zone known as the Dread Reservation (one of many throughout the US). A mob helps Strickland and destroys Tom's surrogate. The Dread leader, a man known as the Prophet, kills Strickland and confiscates the weapon. With his surrogate destroyed, Tom is forced to interact in the world without one. He learns that VSI originally produced the weapon, designed to load a virus that overloads a surrogate's systems, thus disabling it, under a government contract. Unexpectedly, the weapon also disabled the fail-safe protocols protecting operators. The project was promptly scrapped and all prototypes supposedly destroyed. Tom also learns that Andrew Stone, his FBI superior, supplied the weapon to Strickland and ordered Dr. Canter's assassination, upon VSI's request, for his criticism of surrogate use. Jared, who had, unbeknownst to the assassin, been using one of his father's many surrogates, was killed instead. An unknown man murders Jennifer in her home and then hijacks her surrogate, and the Prophet orders the weapon delivered to her. During a military raid on the reservation, the Prophet is shot, revealing he was actually a surrogate, with audience learning that Canter himself was its operator. Tom steals the code that activates the weapon from Stone, but "Jennifer" escapes with the codes. Immediately travelling to Canter's home, Tom discovers that Canter has been controlling not only the Prophet, but also Jennifer and the surrogate he used to kill Jennifer as well. Using Jennifer's surrogate in FBI Headquarters, Canter uses the weapon to kill Stone. Considering all surrogate users irredeemable, he proceeds to upload the virus to all surrogates, which will destroy them and kill their operators. Canter reveals that he only wanted to empower the disabled to live normal lives, but after he was fired from VSI, they capitalized on surrogacy for profit. Convinced his plan is unstoppable, Canter disconnects from Jennifer's surrogate and swallows a cyanide pill. Tom takes control of Jennifer's surrogate and, with the assistance of the network's system administrator, Bobby Saunders, insulates the virus so the operators will survive, but a second step is required to save the surrogates. After a moment of consideration, Tom chooses to let the virus permanently disable surrogates worldwide. With all the surrogates disabled, people emerge from their homes, confused and afraid. Returning home, Tom shares an emotional embrace with Maggie in her real form. The film ends with an aerial view of the collapsed surrogates along with overlapping news reports of downed surrogates all over the world and how people are now "on their own" again.

Viktor Taransky, a disillusioned director who has fallen out of favor in Hollywood, struggles to complete his new film when Nicola Anders, the lead actress, refuses to finish the film. His ex-wife, Elaine, who is also an executive producer, is frustrated with Taransky's antics and informs him his contract isn't being renewed. Taransky remains close with their daughter, Lainey. Later that night, Taransky is approached by an old acquaintance, Hank Aleno, who tries discussing with him about an advanced program he created called “Simulation One” a program that enables the creation of a computer-generated woman, but Taransky quickly leaves. The next day, Taransky learns that Hank had passed away and left the program to him as his inheritance. Upon examining the program, Taransky realizes he can use it to play the film's central character. Taransky names his virtual actor "Simone", a composite name derived from the computer program's title, Sim ulation One. Seamlessly incorporated into the film, Simone's performance, controlled by Taransky, becomes the highlight at the premiere. The film is a huge success, with Simone quickly attracting a large fanbase around the world and revitalizing Taransky's filmmaking career. When questioned about Simone by the public, Taransky requests that her privacy be respected, but that merely intensifies media demands for her to appear. To satisfy demand, Taransky executes a number of progressively ambitious stunts that rely on misdirection and special effects. Two tabloid reporters discover that Taransky used out-of-date stock photography as the background during an interview. Threatening to expose Taransky, the reporters blackmail him into providing Simone for a live appearance. He arranges for her to perform a song at a stadium event, appearing in a cloud of smoke and using holographic technology. As a result of the concert, Simone becomes even more famous, simultaneously becoming a double winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress, tied with herself. Despite his success, Taransky grows tired of Simone constantly overshadowing him in the press, and his close relationship with Elaine has become strained due to the belief that Taransky and Simone are romantically involved. Deciding to ruin Simone, Taransky arranges Simone's "directorial debut" in her next film, I Am Pig, a tasteless treatment about zoophilia intended to disgust audiences. Not only does it fail to achieve the desired effect of audience alienation, it also serves to foster her credibility as an avant-garde artist. Taransky's subsequent attempts to discredit Simone by having her drink, smoke and curse at public appearances, and use politically incorrect statements backfire when she is praised for her honesty. Taransky attempts to have Simone be replaced in her next film by Nicola Anders, but Nicola, an avid fan of Simone, refuses to replace her. As a last resort, Taransky decides to completely dispose of Simone by using a computer virus to erase her, tossing the hard drive and floppy disks into a steamer trunk, and dumping it at sea. Shortly after, Taransky announces to the press that she had died from a rare virus. During the funeral, the police interrupt and arrest Taransky for the suspected murder of Simone. Taransky attempts to confess to police that Simone is a computer program, but fails to convince them. Taransky tries to prove it with the trunk containing the computer data, but when the trunk is retrieved from the ocean it is found empty, leading to further speculation from the public that Simone's remains were eaten by sharks. While Taransky is in custody, Lainey, who'd been suspicious of Simone's existence, investigates Taransky's studio with Elaine to help him. Together, they discover Simone is indeed a program, proving Taransky was telling the truth. Lainey finds the virus source disk (Plague) and applies an anti-virus program to eradicate the computer virus. To save Taransky, they restore Simone, having her appear on national television to prove she's alive, much to the public's relief (and to Taransky's horror). After his release, Taransky reconciles with his family. Together as a family again, they decide to continue the ruse with Simone and Taransky's "relationship" going public with a fake pregnancy announcement.

Professor John Oldman is packing his belongings into his truck, preparing to move to a new home. His colleagues show up to give him an impromptu farewell party: Harry, a biologist; Edith, an art history professor and devout Christian; Dan, an anthropologist; Sandy, a historian who is in (unrequited) love with John; Art, an archaeologist; and his younger student Linda. As John's colleagues press him to explain the reason for his departure, he builds on Dan's reference to Magdalenian cultures and, slowly and somewhat reluctantly, reveals that he was born in the Paleolithic period. He states that he has lived for more than 14 millennia and that he relocates every 10 years to prevent others from realizing he does not age. He begins his tale under the guise of a possible science fiction story, but eventually stops speaking in hypotheticals and answers questions from a first-person perspective. His colleagues refuse to believe his story but accept it as a working hypothesis to glean his true intentions. John relates that he was a Sumerian for 2000 years, later a Babylonian, and eventually went east to become a disciple of the Buddha. He claims to have had a chance to sail with Columbus (admitting that at the time he still believed the earth was flat) and to have befriended Van Gogh (one of whose original paintings he apparently owns, a gift from the artist himself). During the conversation, each guest questions John's story based on their own academic specialty. Harry struggles with how biology could allow a human being to live so long. Art, arguably the most skeptical of the group, questions prehistory. He exclaims that all of John's answers, although correct, could have come from any textbook; John rejoins that, like any human, his memory is imperfect and he only sees events from his own narrow, hence not omniscient, perspective. Dr. Will Gruber, a psychiatry professor who arrives at Art's request later that afternoon, questions whether John feels guilty about outliving everyone he has ever known and loved. He then threatens John with a gun (later revealed to have been unloaded) before temporarily leaving. John then learns from Harry that Will's wife had died the previous day after a long illness. John chases after Will, expresses his condolences, and rejoins the group. The discussion veers toward religion, and John mentions that he does not follow any religion. Even though he does not necessarily believe in an omnipotent God, he does not discount the possibility of such a being's existence. Pressed by the group, John reluctantly reveals that in trying to take the Buddha's teachings to the west, into the eastern Roman Empire, he became the inspiration for the Jesus story (another possibility is that he may have been the Teacher of Righteousness). After this revelation, emotions in the room run high. Edith, the representative Christian literalist of the group, begins crying. Will, who has returned after saying he drove around and did not know where else to go, demands that John end his tale and give the group closure by admitting it was all a hoax. He threatens to have John involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation should he refuse to do so. John appears to ruminate over his response before finally "confessing" to everyone that his story was a prank. John's friends leave the party with various reactions: Edith is relieved, Harry is open-minded, Art never wants to see John again, Will still believes John needs professional help, Sandy and Linda clearly believe John, and Dan is implied to believe John. After everyone else but Will and Sandy has left, Will overhears their conversation, which suggests the story could be true after all. John mentions some of the pseudonyms he has used over the years, and Will realizes one in particular was his father's name. He asks John specific questions that only a very close acquaintance could answer. When John answers them all correctly, Will has an emotional breakdown, suffers a heart attack, and dies in John's arms. After the body has been taken away, Sandy realizes that (if the story is true) this is the first time John has seen one of his grown children die. John wordlessly gets into his truck and drives to an unknown destination. Having reconsidered, he then stops and waits for Sandy, who slowly walks over to the truck.