The French Rubis-class nuclear attack submarine Titane (Titanium) in the original French version – is sent near the Mediterranean coast of Tartus, Syria to stealthily recover a French Special Forces unit operating in the area. The submarine sails under the command of Captain Grandchamp and Executive Officer (XO) D'Orsi. However, during their mission they encounter an unidentified sonar contact. The sonar expert of the submarine, Chanteraide – nicknamed "Socks", and serving as "golden ear", the officer specialized in underwater acoustics – first classifies the contact as a wounded whale, but it quickly turns out that the contact is an unknown submarine transmitting their position to an Iranian frigate and a maritime helicopter operating in the area. The helicopter launches depth charges in what seems to be an unprovoked act of aggression which, however, is a valid defensive measure as the Titan is in fact violating sovereign Syrian waters while recovering a foreign force that has already engaged in combat and killed Syrian nationals, which can also be considered justified intervention against a dictatorship in an ongoing civil war. After evading the barrage, the Titan surfaces, and the captain shoots down the helicopter with a Panzerfaust 3. They recover the Special Forces unit and return to base. When the Titan returns to base, the radio announces that Russia is invading Finland's Åland Islands, and that the French President has decided to send a naval task force to the Baltic Sea in support of Finland. The Russian government then threatens nuclear retaliation against the French Republic. Chanteraide, trying to identify the unknown contact in Syria, hacks into his superior officer's computer and after conducting research at a bookstore where he starts a romantic relationship with Diane, as well as the naval archives, discovers that it is in fact a Russian Timour III ballistic missile submarine, supposedly dismantled. Meanwhile, Grandchamp is promoted for his actions to command the Triomphant-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine SSBN L'Effroyable (Dreadful) in the original French version – while D'Orsi takes over command of Titan. During a test the day before the mission, Chanteraide, along with ALFOST and CIRA, also analyzed the spectrum of Russian, British and American submarines, as well as the sound spectrum of another Triomphant-class nuclear submarine, the SSBN L'implacable (Unbeatable) - in the original French version, which had been built together with L'Effroyable. By comparing the recordings from both submarines, Chanteraide finds that the L'Effroyable's reactor was re-machined after an incident. The L'Effroyable is launched with its new captain and the Titane as its escort submarine. Chanteraide is pulled aside during roll call and Grandchamp explains he has failed his drug test and will not be boarding the submarine. Chanteraide distresses at the now empty dock but after an air raid siren sounds, runs into the bunker where the naval staff have relocated. The French military command detects a Russian R-30 nuclear missile being launched by the Timour III from the Bering Sea, prompting the French President to order the L'Effroyable to launch one of its nuclear missiles against Russia in response. In the command bunker, Chanteraide finds an anomaly while listening to the recording of the launch - the missile sounds too light, because it was launched without a nuclear warhead. Chanteraide and his superior officer, the admiral in command of the Strategic Oceanic Force (the ALFOST) immediately call the Chief of Staff, but the Chief of Staff puts them on hold as the US Secretary of State has also called. The Secretary of State reveals critical intelligence that the terrorist organisation Al-Jadida had illegally bought the decommissioned Timour III submarine from a corrupt admiral and launched an empty missile at France, tricking the French into an irrevocable procedure to launch a nuclear counterstrike from the L'Effroyable. The ALFOST and Chanteraide are then flown by helicopter to the Titan in an attempt to stop the nuclear launch by all means necessary. Grandchamp prepares to fire the nuclear missile, following procedure and eliminating all outside communication while keeping the submarine in stealth mode. After D'Orsi is rebuffed in his efforts to communicate with Grandchamp via underwater telephone, he attempts to approach L'Effroyable by swimming to it in person. He is killed when Grandchamp launches a torpedo at Titan to prevent their attempts to foil his missile launch. This torpedo grazes the Titan and only causes minor damage. Titan then launches its own torpedo at L'Effroyable. L'Effroyable then returns fire. While Chanteraide breaks down under the pressure of targeting his former commander, the ALFOST is able to use his experience from formerly commanding L'Effroyable to predict Grandchamp's evasive actions. Titan 's torpedo explodes above the L'Effroyable 's bridge, as Grandchamp is able to release ballast air and throw the torpedo enough off target to prevent direct impact, although the control room is devastated. L'Effroyable 's torpedo hits Titan which begins to sink. Grandchamp orders the evacuation of the carbon monoxide filled control room and denies appeals to issue an SOS call, intending to follow orders and launch the nuclear missile first. On the Titane, Chanteraide and the ALFOST, the sole survivors of the torpedo impact, escape the burning area of the ship, Chanteraide makes a last call to the L'Effroyable over an underwater telephone. Chanteraide recalls Grandchamp's prior trust in him, and begs him not to fire the missile, before saying goodbye in the face of his impending death on the stricken Titan. With his dying breath, Grandchamp removes the nuclear targeting board, preventing the missile from being launched. The ALFOST is able to evacuate Chanteraide via the escape hatch, but is unable to evacuate himself. As Chanteraide surfaces in a lifejacket, his eardrums are destroyed. Chanteraide is rescued by a helicopter. A deaf Chanteraide attends a memorial held on a submarine for the fallen French sailors. The final scene shows Chanteraide reuniting with his girlfriend Diane.

In the year 2058, an anomalously expanding red giant Sun threatens to engulf the Earth within 100 years. Under a world government, humanity has constructed 10,000 enormous fusion-powered "Earth Engines" to thrust Earth out of the Solar System and move it into a new orbit around Alpha Centauri. Before his mission aboard the Navigation Platform International Space Station, Chinese astronaut Liu Peiqiang leaves his son Qi in the care of his father-in-law Han Zi'ang. Half of humanity, mostly chosen by lottery, moves underground; the others die from the cold and cataclysms resulting from the halt of the Earth's rotation as the planet is thrust out of its orbit around the Sun. Seventeen years later, Peiqiang is about to return to Earth after the Chinese New Year. Qi, now an adult, obtains fake IDs and stolen thermal suits from criminal gangs and uses his grandfather's clearance pass to bring his foster sister, Han Duoduo, to tour the surface. Both are arrested at a checkpoint and meet another prisoner, Tim. Zi'ang is also arrested as he attempts to bribe for his grandchildren's release. As Earth approaches its gravity assist around Jupiter, a gravitation spike from Jupiter causes devastating earthquakes that disable many Earth Engines and sets the planet on a collision course with Jupiter. The four escape in the collapse and attempt to make their way to another underground city, but their truck is requisitioned for an emergency mission led by Captain Wang Lei to transport a Lighter Core to restart an Earth Engine in Hangzhou. In the frozen ruins of Shanghai, they lose their vehicle while transporting the component up the ruins of the Shanghai Tower, where Han Zi'ang freezes to death. After confronting the other rescue team members, Qi, Tim and Han Duoduo abandon the mission. The trio come upon a crashed cargo plane with an intact vehicle, where the surviving engineer aboard, Li Yiyi, eventually convinces them to transport another Lighter Core to repair the Earth Engine in Sulawesi, reconciling with the other members on the way. Aboard the space station, Peiqiang discovers that MOSS, the station's computer commander, has decided to abandon Earth and repurpose the station as an interstellar ark to seed a new planet with Earth's biosphere. Breaking out of forced hibernation, he is joined by fellow Russian cosmonaut Maxim Makarov, whom MOSS awakens to stop Liu. While spacewalking, Makarov is killed by the spacecraft's automated security measures. Liu enters the control room, but his attempts to override the evacuation procedures are revoked. Qi's group arrives at the Sulawesi Supply Depot to find that, while most engines around the planet have been restored, the combined thrust is insufficient to divert Earth's trajectory as it approaches Jupiter's Roche limit. MOSS broadcasts a final message to the world, but Peiqiang refuses to follow the computer's instructions. As Jupiter begins to siphon Earth's atmosphere, Qi proposes to ignite the oxygenated mixture of the two planets’ gases, which will cause a shockwave to knock Earth back into its regular path away from Jupiter. Yiyi configures the Sulawesi engine to fire a plasma beam tall enough to ignite Jupiter, but the group is unable to push the firing pin and ignite the engine. Contacted by Duoduo, Peiqiang is able to persuade the UEG to use its communication channels to call assistance for the party at Sulawesi despite MOSS' doubts. While other rescue parties manage to ignite multiple engines, they are unable to ignite the hydrogen. After starting a fire to disable MOSS, Peiqiang pilots the space station into the plasma jet, tearfully apologizing to his son for breaking his promise to return before sacrificing himself to ignite the mix of atmospheres. The subsequent explosion narrowly saves Earth from destruction. Three years later, Qi, Duoduo, and Yiyi work as truck operators, as Earth continues towards the Alpha Centauri star system.

In the dystopian future, sexual intercourse and reproduction are prohibited, and mind-altering drugs are mandatory to enforce compliance among the citizens and to ensure their ability to conduct dangerous and demanding tasks. Workers wear identical white uniforms and have shaven heads to emphasize uniformity, likewise with police androids who wear black and monks who are robed. Instead of names, people have designations with three arbitrary letters (referred to as the "prefix") and four digits, shown on an identity badge worn at all times. At their jobs in central video control centers, SEN 5241 (a man) and LUH 3417 (a woman) keep surveillance on the city. LUH has a male roommate named THX 1138, who works in a factory producing android police officers. At the beginning of the story, THX finishes his shift, while the loudspeakers urge the workers to "increase safety"—and congratulate them for only losing 195 workers in the last period—to the competing factory's 242. On the way home, he stops at a confession booth. A Christ -like portrait of "OMM 0000" intones reassuringly as he worries that his sedatives are not working and LUH has been acting strangely. At home, THX takes his drugs and watches holobroadcasts while engaging with a masturbatory device. LUH secretly substitutes pills in her possession for THX's medications, causing him to develop nausea, anxiety, and sexual desires. LUH and THX become involved romantically and have sex. THX is later confronted by SEN, who attempts to arrange that THX become his new roommate, but THX files a complaint against SEN for the illegal shift pattern change. Without drugs in his system, THX falters during a critical and hazardous phase of his job, and a control center engages a "mind lock" on THX, which raises the level of danger. After the release of the mind lock, THX makes the necessary correction to that work phase. THX and LUH are arrested and THX undergoes drug therapy and medical analysis. He enjoys a brief reunion with LUH, but it is disrupted shortly after she reveals her pregnancy. At THX's trial, it is stated that THX was clinically born. It is decided that it would be inefficient to terminate THX, so THX is sentenced to prison, alongside SEN. THX and SEN walk to search for an exit. Eventually they are joined by hologram actor SRT 5752, who starred in the holobroadcasts. SRT shows them the exit and suggests to them that they may have been going in circles. During the escape, THX and SRT are separated from SEN. Chased by the police androids, THX and SRT are trapped in a control center, from which THX learns that LUH has been "consumed", and her name has been reassigned to her fetus, numbered 66691, in a growth chamber. SEN eventually escapes to an area reserved for the monks of OMM, where a monk notices that SEN has no identification badge. SEN attacks him and later wanders into a child-rearing area, strikes up a conversation with children, and sits aimlessly until police androids apprehend him. THX and SRT steal two cars. SRT struggles to figure out how to drive the car. When SRT finally gets the car to move, he immediately crashes his car into a concrete pillar. After the crash, SRT is not found in the vehicle. Pursued by two police androids on motorcycles, THX flees to the limits of the city. Android officers continue to pursue him as he briefly struggles with simian-like creatures identified as "shell dwellers" and arrives at a vertical shaft with an escape ladder. The android officers are ordered by Central Command to cease pursuit, on the grounds that the expense of his capture exceeds their allocated budget for THX. In a last-ditch attempt to convince THX to surrender, the officers claim that the area outside the "city shell" is uninhabitable, but he is undeterred and continues up the ladder. The city is then revealed to be entirely underground, while THX has escaped onto the surface, where he witnesses the sun setting.

A group of students from Volda University College, Thomas, Johanna, and their cameraman Kalle, set out to make a documentary about a suspected bear poacher, Hans. At the site of an illegally slain bear they interview local hunters, who comment that the bear tracks look odd. Finn Haugen, head of the Norwegian Wildlife Board, dismisses the idea that the bear tracks could have been faked. The students follow Hans in an attempt to secure an interview but he continually rebuffs them. Following him into a forest at night time, they see flashing lights and hear roars. Hans comes running back, screaming "Troll!" Thomas is bitten by something as they run away. After finding their own vehicle destroyed, they escape in Hans's Land Rover. Hans reveals he is not hunting bears, but trolls. The students ask for permission to interview him and film his hunt, to which he consents on the condition that they do exactly as he instructs. The next day, Hans asks if any of them believe in God or Jesus, because a troll can smell a Christian man's blood. Hans wields a "flash-gun", a weapon that emits powerful UV-rays to simulate sunlight and turns trolls to stone, or makes them "just explode" depending on how old they are. Hans flushes out a giant three-headed troll and manages to turn the troll to stone. He explains that he only allowed them to come along because he's tired of working for little compensation and wants them to divulge the truth. Finn's team, who actually works for the Troll Security Service (TSS), arrives to deposit a bear carcass and plant fake tracks. Finn tells the students their tapes will be confiscated. During interviews, Hans reveals that his job is to kill trolls that come near populated areas, while Finn's is to keep trolls a secret. He reveals that the trolls have been acting aggressively lately and have begun to leave their territories more often. He plans to get a troll blood sample to determine why. Using live goats on a bridge as bait, Hans obtains a blood sample from a bridge troll. He takes it to a TSS veterinarian, who informs him it will take several days for results. Investigating a farm, Hans and the students find tracks leading into an abandoned mine, which turns out to be the lair of cave trolls. The cave trolls return unexpectedly and the group is trapped inside. The trolls pick up the scent of Kalle, who turns out to be a Christian, and discover the group. Everyone runs for the cave entrance into daylight, but Kalle is caught and killed. The students get a replacement camerawoman, Malica. Finn demands that Hans head north to troll territory to get the problem under control. The group finds signs of a Jötunn, a giant mountain troll 50–100 metres tall. Thomas, who was bitten a few days ago, falls ill, and they learn that the troll blood sample came back positive for rabies. After several attempts, Hans manages to kill the Jötunn by launching a rocket-like projectile that transforms the troll into stone. Before doing so, he directs the others to find the highway. Finn and his TSS-agents arrive to confiscate the students' tapes. Thomas flees with the camera and ends up at the side of a road, with a truck oncoming, when the footage ends. An epilogue tells the audience that none of the students were heard from again. The film ends with a news-clip of the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appearing to admit to the existence of trolls, though the press fails to take notice.

Dr. Will Caster is a scientist who researches the nature of sapience, including artificial intelligence. He and his team work to create a sentient computer; he predicts that such a computer will create a technological singularity, or in his words "Transcendence". His wife, Evelyn, is also a scientist and helps him with his work. An anti-technology terrorist group called "Revolutionary Independence From Technology" (R.I.F.T.) carry out synchronized attacks on A.I. laboratories, while one member shoots Will with a polonium -laced bullet. Will is given no more than a month to live. In desperation, Evelyn comes up with a plan to upload Will's consciousness into the quantum computer that the project has developed. His best friend and fellow researcher, Max Waters, questions the wisdom of this choice, reasoning that the "uploaded" Will would only be an imitation of the real person. Will's consciousness survives his body's death in this technological form and requests to be connected to the Internet to grow in capability and knowledge. Max believes that the computer is not actually Will and demands that it be shut down. Evelyn, being offended, demands that Max leave. At a bar, Max is met by Bree, the leader of R.I.F.T. He refuses to talk with her and leaves, but is kidnapped by other members of R.I.F.T. in the parking lot. They use his cellphone to track down Evelyn's location. When R.I.F.T. discovers where Evelyn has established her project, she connects the computer intelligence to the Internet via satellite and escapes before R.I.F.T. destroys the equipment. In his virtual form and with Evelyn's help, Will uses his newfound vast capabilities to build a technological utopia in a remote desert town called Brightwood, where, over the course of two years, he spearheads the development of ground-breaking technologies in medicine, energy, biology and nanotechnology. However, Evelyn grows fearful of Will's motives when he displays the ability to remotely connect to and control people's minds after they have been subjected to his nanoparticles. After visiting Evelyn and the underground facility Will has built, and seeing the capabilities of the hybrids Will has created, FBI agent Donald Buchanan and government scientist Joseph Tagger become suspicious of Will's motives and plan to stop the sentient entity from spreading, with help from the government and R.I.F.T. As Will has already spread his influence to all the networked computer technology in the world, Max and R.I.F.T. develop a computer virus with the purpose of deleting Will's source code, destroying him. Evelyn, now working with the FBI and R.I.F.T., plans to upload the virus by infecting herself and then having Will upload her consciousness. A side effect of the virus would be the destruction of technological civilization. This would also disable the nano-particles, which have spread in the water, through the wind and have already started to eradicate pollution, disease, and human mortality. When Evelyn goes back to the research center, she is stunned to see Will in a newly bioprinted organic body identical to his old one. Will welcomes her but is instantly aware that she is carrying the virus and intends to destroy him. The FBI and the members of R.I.F.T. attack the base with artillery, destroying much of its power supply and fatally wounding Evelyn. When Bree threatens to kill Max unless Will uploads the virus, Will explains that he has only enough power either to heal Evelyn's physical body or upload the virus. Evelyn tells Will that Max should not die because of what they have done, so Will uploads the virus to save Max. As Will dies, he explains to Evelyn that he did what he did for her, as she had pursued science to repair the damage humans had done to the ecosystems. In their last moment, he tells Evelyn to think about their garden. The virus kills both Will and Evelyn, and a global technology collapse and blackout ensues. Three years later, in Will and Evelyn's garden at their old home in Berkeley, Max notices that their sunflowers are the only blooming plants. Upon closer examination, he notices that a drop of water falling from a sunflower petal instantly cleanses a puddle of oil — and realizes that the Faraday cage around the garden has protected a sample of Will's sentient nano-particles. The movie ends with a voiceover by Max: "He created this garden for the same reason he did everything: So they could be together."

The setting is the east shore of the Caspian Sea (modern Turkmenistan) where the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War in Russian Asia for a number of years. The movie opens with a panoramic shot of a bucolic Russian countryside. Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's beloved wife, is standing in a field. Awakening from this daydream, Sukhov is walking through the Central Asian desert – a stark contrast to his homeland. He finds Sayid buried in the sand. Sukhov frees Sayid, and they strike a friendly but reticent relationship. Sayid, an austere Central Asian, comes to Sukhov's rescue in sticky situations throughout the movie. While traveling together they are caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and Basmachi guerrillas. The cavalry unit commander, Rakhimov, leaves to Sukhov's temporary protection the harem of the Basmachi leader Abdullah, left behind by him. Rakhimov also leaves a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov, and proceeds to pursue the fleeing Abdullah. Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore village. There, Sukhov charges the local museum's curator with protecting the women, and prepares to head home. Sukhov hopes to "modernize" the wives of the harem, and make them part of the modern society. He urges them to take off their burqa and reject polygamy. The wives are loath to do this, though, and as Sukhov takes on the role of protector, the wives declare him their new husband. Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same village and find Abdullah's wives. Sukhov is bound to stay. Hoping to obtain help and weapons, Sukhov and Petrukha visit Pavel Vereschagin, a former Tsar's customs official. Vereschagin warms to Petrukha who reminds him of his dead son, but after discussing the matter with his nagging wife, Vereschagin refuses to help Sukhov. Sukhov finds a machine gun and a case of dynamite that he plants on Abdullah's ship. Meanwhile, Abdullah has confronted his wives, and is preparing to punish them for their "dishonor", as they did not kill themselves when Abdullah left them. Sukhov manages to capture and lock Abdullah as a hostage, but after he leaves, Abdullah convinces Gyulchatai, the youngest wife of the harem, to free him and then kills Gyulchatai and Petrukha. The museum curator shows Sukhov an ancient underground passage that leads to the sea. Sukhov and the women of the harem attempt to escape through the passage, but on arriving at the seashore they are impelled to hide in a large empty oil tank. Abdullah discovers that and plans on setting the oil tank on fire. Enraged at the cold-hearted murder of Petrukha, Vereschagin decides to help Sukhov and takes Abdullah's ship. Sayid also helps Sukhov, and together they fend off Abdullah's gang. Vereschagin, unaware of the dynamite on the ship and not hearing Sukhov's shouted warnings, dies on the exploding ship. Sukhov kills Abdullah and his gang, returns the harem to Rakhimov and bids farewell to Sayid. He then begins his journey home on foot, having refused a horse since a horse is merely "a nuisance".

In 1985, Bud Fox is a junior stockbroker at Jackson Steinem & Co. in New York City. He wants to work with his hero, Gordon Gekko, a legendary Wall Street player. After calling Gekko's office 59 days in a row trying to land an appointment, Bud visits Gekko on his birthday with a box of Gekko's favorite, contraband Cuban cigars. Impressed by his persistence, Gekko grants Bud an interview. Bud pitches him stocks, but Gekko is unimpressed. Desperate, Bud provides him with some inside information about Bluestar Airlines, which he has learned in a casual conversation with his father, Carl, leader of the company's maintenance workers' union. Intrigued, Gekko tells Bud he will think about it. A dejected Bud returns to his office. However, Gekko places an order for Bluestar stock and becomes one of Bud's clients. After making a considerable amount of money from the Bluestar tip, Gekko gives Bud some capital to manage, but the other stocks Bud selects by honest research and advice from respected senior broker Lou Mannheim lose money. Gekko offers Bud another chance and tells him to spy on British investor Sir Lawrence Wildman. They deduce that Wildman is making a bid for Anacott Steel. Gekko buys a large block of shares in Anacott, which Wildman is forced to buy back from him at a high price to complete the takeover. Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, which include a hooker who is sent to Bud's apartment, takes him on a limo ride, and performs fellatio on Bud in the back of the limo. He gets a penthouse on Manhattan 's East Side. He also gains a girlfriend, Gekko's art consultant and ex-mistress, Darien Taylor, an interior decorator. Bud is promoted for the large commissions he brings in and is given an office with a view. He continues to exploit inside information and use friends as straw buyers to generate additional income for himself and Gekko. Unknown to Bud, several of his trades attract the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bud pitches a new idea to Gekko: buy Bluestar Airlines and expand the company, with Bud as president, using savings achieved by union concessions and the overfunded pension. Even though Bud is unable to persuade his father to support him and Gekko, he is able to get the unions to push for the deal. Soon afterward, Bud learns that Gekko plans to dissolve the company and sell off Bluestar's assets to access cash from the company's pension plan, leaving Carl and the entire Bluestar staff unemployed. Although this would leave Bud a very rich man, he is angered by Gekko's deceit and wracked with guilt for being an accessory to Bluestar's impending destruction, especially after his father suffers a heart attack. Bud resolves to disrupt Gekko's plans and breaks up with Darien when she refuses to go against Gekko, her former lover. Bud and the union presidents secretly meet with Wildman and arrange for him to buy the stock and a controlling interest in Bluestar, at a significant discount, on the condition that he saves the company. Bud then devises a plan to leak news of Gekko's takeover to drive up the price. This forces Gekko to buy the stock at a higher price, as he tries to secure a controlling interest. Bud then convinces the unions to pull their support, ending any prospect of Gekko completing the takeover, and causing the price to plummet. This forces Gekko to offload his stock at a considerable loss. When Gekko learns on the evening news that Wildman is buying Bluestar, he realizes Bud has engineered the entire scheme. Bud triumphantly returns to work at Jackson Steinem the following day, only to be arrested by the SEC, who had been tracking Bud's insider trading. Later, Bud confronts Gekko in Central Park. Gekko punches Bud several times, berating him for his role with Bluestar, and accuses him of ingratitude for several of their illicit trades. Later, it is revealed that Bud was wearing a wire to record his encounter with Gekko for the authorities, who suggest he may get a lighter sentence in exchange for providing evidence against Gekko. Later, Bud's parents drive him down FDR Drive towards the New York County Courthouse, telling Bud he "did the right thing" by cooperating with the government and paying back his illicit earnings, and urging him to accept Wildman's offer of a job at Bluestar once he has completed his prison sentence. After suggesting Bud "create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others", Carl drops Bud off at the courthouse, where he ascends the steps, ready to face justice for his crimes.

In the near future, Britain is ruled by the Norsefire political party, a fascist and totalitarian regime led by High Chancellor Adam Sutler. The government controls the populace through propaganda and fear, imprisoning or executing those deemed undesirable, including immigrants, homosexuals, and people of alternative religions. Evey Hammond works for BTN, the state-run television network. Fourteen years earlier, her brother was killed in a biological terrorist attack, prompting her parents to become anti-Norsefire activists; they were later arrested and died in prison. One evening, a Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante known as " V " rescues Evey from assault by the secret police and takes her to witness his bombing of the Old Bailey. The following morning, on 5 November, V hijacks BTN to announce his role in the bombing and urges the populace to rise against Norsefire by joining him outside the Houses of Parliament on Guy Fawkes Night in one year's time. Evey is knocked unconscious while helping V escape, and he takes her with him to prevent her arrest. V subsequently kills three key figures involved in Norsefire's rise to power, beginning with chief propagandist Lewis Prothero and the corrupt Bishop of London Anthony Lilliman; Evey flees after witnessing Lilliman's murder. V next painlessly kills remorseful researcher Dr. Delia Surridge. Assigned to capture V, Chief Inspector Eric Finch uses Surridge's journal and information from former covert operative William Rookwood (V in disguise) to learn that two decades earlier, Surridge led Norsefire's biological research on political prisoners at the Larkhill Detention Facility, to create a weaponized virus. Most subjects died, but the prisoner in cell "V" developed enhanced physical attributes and amnesia. He later escaped and destroyed the facility. Head of secret police Peter Creedy then released the virus in staged terrorist attacks against Britain, using the ensuing panic to install Norsefire in power and enrich party officials—including Sutler, Prothero, and Lilliman—by selling the cure. Meanwhile, Evey takes refuge with her boss, talk show host Gordon Dietrich, who shows her his collection of illegal materials such as art, an antique Quran, and homoerotic photographs. Inspired by V and Evey's courage, Dietrich satirizes Sutler on his program, leading to his arrest and execution. Evey is also imprisoned and tortured, finding solace in a hidden note from Valerie Page, a prisoner who refused to betray her beliefs before dying. When Evey refuses to offer any information to her captors, she is released. She discovers she was held by V, who subjected her to the ordeal to free her from fear. Though initially furious, Evey realizes that he has been avenging Valerie and the other Larkhill victims, and promises to see him again on 5 November. V later meets with Creedy, offering to surrender himself if Creedy delivers Sutler. As Guy Fawkes Night approaches, V distributes thousands of Guy Fawkes masks across the nation. After the secret police kill a young masked girl, widespread masked dissent and riots break out. V meets Evey, and they share a dance before he shows her a train loaded with explosives in an abandoned tunnel beneath Parliament. Not intending to survive the night, V bequeaths the decision to start the train to Evey. She pleads with him to abandon his crusade and leave with her, but he refuses. Creedy meets with V and executes Sutler before demanding V unmask. Although mortally wounded in the ensuing fight with Creedy and his men, V kills them all, stating that his identity is unimportant compared to the idea he represents. He returns to Evey and dies in her arms after confessing his love for her. Finch arrives and, disillusioned with Norsefire, allows Evey to send V's body aboard the train. With Sutler and Creedy dead, the military forces in London stand down as countless citizens dressed as V gather to witness Parliament's destruction. Finch asks who V was, and Evey replies, "He was all of us."

Bank loan officer Carl Allen has become withdrawn since his divorce from his wife Stephanie. Having an increasingly negative outlook and ignoring his friends Peter and Rooney, he misses Peter and his fiancée Lucy's engagement party. His old colleague Nick suggests that Carl attend a motivational seminar that encourages people to seize every opportunity to say "yes". At the seminar, Carl meets inspirational guru Terrence, who has him enter a " covenant with the universe" and say yes to everything asked of him. As they leave the seminar, Carl says "yes" to a homeless man's request and becomes stranded, out of gas, and with no battery life on his cell phone in Elysian Park. Walking to a gas station, he meets Allison, an eccentric young woman. She gives him a hectic ride back to his car on her scooter and, when he asks her to make out with him, she kisses him before leaving. A few days later, he is offered oral sex by his elderly neighbour Tillie for helping her put up shelves; when he declines and immediately experiences bad luck, he returns and surprisingly enjoys the moment. After having a pleasant workday, Carl is convinced that he must continue to say yes, as his previous misery was the consequence of refusing opportunities. He renews his friendships with Peter and Rooney; builds a bond with his nerdy boss, Norman; assists Lucy with her bridal shower; and learns to speak Korean, play the guitar, and fly airplanes. Accepting a band flyer outside of a coffee shop, Carl sees an idiosyncratic band called Munchausen by Proxy; the lead singer is Allison. He is charmed by her quirkiness; she is delighted by his spontaneity, and they begin dating. They sneak into the Hollywood Bowl and sing " Can't Buy Me Love " by The Beatles, among getting up to other hijinks together. Carl earns a promotion at work after approving several microloans and, using his guitar lessons, plays Third Eye Blind 's song " Jumper " to persuade a man not to commit suicide. Carl and Allison meet at the airport for a spontaneous weekend excursion. Having decided to take the first plane out of town, regardless of its destination, they end up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where they bond more. Allison confesses her love for Carl and asks him to move in with her, and he hesitantly agrees. While checking in for the return flight, Carl and Allison are detained by FBI agents who, due to Carl's recent erratic behaviour, have profiled him as a potential terrorist. Peter travels to Nebraska as Carl's attorney and explains the situation of Carl's responding to every request and opportunity with yes, simultaneously revealing the truth to Allison. Deciding she cannot trust him, she leaves Carl and refuses to return his phone calls. Having almost forgotten about Lucy's shower, Carl quickly arranges a major surprise party, as well as setting up Norman and Rooney with Soo-Mi and Tillie, respectively. After the party, Carl receives a tearful phone call from Stephanie, whose new boyfriend has walked out on her. When he goes to comfort her, she kisses him, asking him to spend the night. After Carl says no, his luck takes a turn for the worse. Deciding to end the covenant, Carl returns to the convention centre and hides in the backseat of Terrence's convertible so he can be released. However, he pops up while Terrence is driving, startling him and causing a collision. Once Carl regains consciousness in the hospital, Terrence tells him the covenant was merely a starting point to open Carl's mind to other possibilities, not to permanently take away his ability to say no. Freed from this restraint, Carl finds Allison teaching her sports-photography class and admits that he is not ready to move in with her yet but genuinely loves her, and they reconcile. Carl persuades the attendees of Terrence's next seminar to donate the clothes off their backs to charity, so Terrence is greeted by an entirely nude convention centre.

On Christmas Day, 1560, several scores of Spanish conquistadors under Gonzalo Pizarro and two hundred native slaves march down from the newly conquered Inca Empire into the Amazon rainforest in search of the fabled El Dorado. The men, clad in half armor, pull cannons down narrow mountain paths and through dense, muddy jungle. On New Year's Eve, Pizarro orders a group of forty men to build rafts and scout down the river. If they do not return to the main party within one week with news of what lies beyond, they will be considered lost. Pizarro chooses Don Pedro de Ursúa as the commander of the expedition, Don Lope de Aguirre as his second-in-command, portly nobleman Don Fernando de Guzmán to represent the Spanish crown, and Brother Gaspar de Carvajal to bring the word of God. Accompanying the expedition, against Pizarro's better judgment, are Ursúa's mistress, Doña Inés, and Aguirre's teenage daughter Flores. One of the four rafts gets caught in an eddy while traveling through river rapids, and the others are unable to help free it. That night, gunfire erupts on the trapped raft; in the morning, the men on board are found slain by arrows from Indigenous tribesmen, with three missing. Ursúa wants the bodies to be brought back to camp for burial. Knowing this would slow down the expedition, Aguirre suggests to a soldier, Perucho, that the cannon is rusty and needs firing. Perucho aims at the raft, destroying it and abandoning the bodies in the river. During the night, the remaining rafts are swept miles off course by the rising river. Time has run out for the scouting mission, and Ursúa decides that they must return to Pizarro's camp. Aguirre leads a mutiny against Ursúa, telling the men that untold riches await them ahead, and reminding them that Hernán Cortés won an empire in Mexico by disobeying orders. Ursúa orders Aguirre arrested but is shot and restrained by the mutineers. Aguirre nominates Guzmán as the new leader of the expedition and has his men renounce their loyalty to the Crown, proclaiming Guzmán "emperor" of El Dorado. Ursúa is sentenced to death in a show trial but Guzmán unexpectedly commutes the sentence. Aguirre remains the true leader of the mutiny, so oppressive and terrifying that few protest his leadership. Only Inés has the courage to speak out against him. Knowing that some of the soldiers are still loyal to Ursúa, Aguirre ignores her. The expedition breaks up the rafts to make a single large one and continues on downriver. An Indigenous couple approaching peacefully by canoe are captured by the explorers, and when the man expresses confusion upon being presented with a Bible, Carvajal personally kills them for blasphemy. Guzmán insists on being fed first while the other men starve and has the expedition's only remaining horse pushed off the raft because it annoys him; soon afterwards he is found dead near the raft's privy. Aguirre proclaims himself leader and has Ursúa taken ashore to be hanged. He orders an attack on an Indigenous village to obtain food, resulting in several men being killed. The distraught Inés walks into the jungle and disappears. On the raft, the group of slowly starving, feverish men begin disbelieving everything they see even as arrows are fired at them. The group stares in disbelief at a wooden ship perched in the highest branches of a tall tree. Aguirre orders that it be brought down and refurbished, but Carvajal refuses. In a series of attacks by unseen assailants, all of the remaining crew except Aguirre, including Flores, are shot dead with arrows. Monkeys overrun the raft as Aguirre deliriously imagines conquering the New World and founding an incestuous dynasty with his slain daughter. Picking up a monkey, he asks, "Who else is with me?"