In an alternate 1990, a war between humans and robots has left the world in disarray. With the help of Sentre CEO Ethan Skate, who developed Neurocaster technology that allowed humans to upload their minds into drone robots, humanity managed to win the war, while robots were banished to the Exclusion Zone. However, the success of this technology meant many people opted to live their virtual lives in a semi-vegetative state while drones did most of the work. In 1994, teenager Michelle lives with her deadbeat foster dad Ted. Years earlier, she was involved in a car crash along with her family, in which her parents and brother reportedly perished, and has since lived with a succession of foster families. Michelle is also having trouble at school due to her refusal to use Neurocaster technology to participate in virtual classes. One day, the sentient robot Cosmo – a robot character of the cartoon of the same name which Michelle's declared-deceased younger brother Christopher, who was a child prodigy, watched – finds Michelle. He is only able to communicate using gestures and a limited set of pre-recorded words, but manages to convince her that he is controlled by Christopher. Michelle and Cosmo set out across a dystopian landscape to find him by first finding Dr. Clark Amherst, the doctor who confirmed Christopher's death. Along the way, they encounter Keats, a veteran, and Herman, a sentient robot who is able to take on multiple forms. Together, they eventually meet up with a band of robots in the Exclusion Zone led by Mr. Peanut. There, they find Dr. Amherst and his robot friend P.C., who explains that Sentre found Christopher in a seemingly permanent vegetative state after the accident and discovered that they could create the Neurocaster technology by exploiting Christopher's exceptional intellect and integrating his consciousness into the Neurocaster; this technology was instrumental in giving humans an advantage in the war against the robots. However, after Christopher unexpectedly came out of his coma thirteen months later, a remorseful Amherst built a way for his mind to escape. Sentre drones, under the command of Colonel Bradbury, attack and recapture Christopher, killing Amherst and destroying the robots' home. Determined to rescue her brother, Michelle and P.C. infiltrate Sentre's headquarters with the help of Keats and Herman, while the other robots wage war with Skate's drone army. Disgusted with Skate's actions, Bradbury defects and helps Peanut to confront Skate while Michelle discovers Christopher in a comatose state, his consciousness trapped within the Neurocaster system. In the virtual realm, Christopher explains to Michelle that his consciousness is powering Skate's drones, and expresses his desire to be freed from his exploited existence. Michelle disconnects him, resulting in his physical body dying. Christopher's death triggers the shutdown of Sentre's drone operations. In the aftermath, Skate is arrested and the world begins to rebuild from the devastation wrought by the war and corporate greed. Michelle then broadcasts to the world exposing how the Neurocaster technology has affected people's lives and inviting those who wish to live in peace to the Exclusion Zone. Cosmo's body is dumped in a junkyard, but he is shown rising up, suggesting that a part of Christopher's consciousness may still reside within the robot.

In 2025, ENCOM and Dillinger Systems are in a race to bring digital constructs into reality. ENCOM's CEO Eve Kim and her partner Seth Flores visit a remote station near Skagway, Alaska built decades earlier by Kevin Flynn. Finding Flynn's "permanence code", enabling constructs to exist for more than 29-minute intervals, they transfer a digital orange tree into the real world. Julian Dillinger, the head of Dillinger Systems and grandson of former ENCOM executive Ed Dillinger, introduces his shareholders to Ares, a Master Control Program he describes as the "perfect, expendable soldier". Ares shows signs of self-awareness and notes Julian's indifference to his programs' survival, while Julian's mother, Elisabeth, expresses concern about their constructs' limited lifespans. Julian sends Ares and his unit to attack ENCOM's digital Grid, downloading Eve's personal data in pursuit of the permanence code. Against his programming, Ares tries to save an injured program, but Julian extracts him and disables ENCOM's Grid. Redeployed to the outside world, Ares tracks Eve's jet as she and Seth return to ENCOM with the permanence code. Learning of Julian's cyberattack from their colleague Ajay Singh, Eve flees as Ares and his second-in-command Athena chase her through the city on Light Cycles. Eve hijacks Athena's Light Cycle but is cornered by Ares, and destroys the drive containing the code. Reaching the end of his 29-minute lifespan, Ares recognizes Eve's empathy towards his plight. As Ares and Athena are "derezzed", Julian digitizes Eve onto the Dillinger Grid. Ares reveals the code can be obtained using Eve's identity disc, and Julian is willing to let her die as a result. Lying to Athena that Julian is "indisposed", Ares bargains with Eve, asking to achieve permanence in exchange for her freedom. Suspicious, Athena contacts Julian and, deciding that Ares is malfunctioning, returns with orders to de-rez him. Evading their pursuers, Ares and Eve return to the real world. En route to ENCOM, they reflect on their motivations, as Ares shows further signs of self-awareness and individuality. Eve realizes a copy of the code might be stored in Kevin Flynn's original office, preserved at ENCOM Tower, where they reunite with Seth to upload Ares onto Flynn's original Grid using a particle laser. They are ambushed by Athena, who destroys the laser to trap Ares, but experiences a moment of self-awareness before de-materializing. Ajay and his assistant Erin arrive, joining Seth and Eve in using Athena's own laser to hack the Dillinger Grid. Elisabeth retakes the position of CEO and tries to turn off the particle lasers, but Athena re-materializes and fatally stabs her, to Julian's horror, having interpreted her as an obstacle in his directive to obtain the code "by any means". On Flynn's Grid, Ares encounters a manifestation of Flynn, and they discuss Ares's desire for permanence. Intrigued by Ares's wish to live and to save Eve, Flynn grants him the permanence code and re-materializes him via backdoor at Flynn's Arcade. Athena pilots a Recognizer into the city, capturing Eve while the ENCOM staff breach the Dillinger Grid, but Ares intercepts Athena and her unit. Ajay, Seth, and Erin shut down the Dillinger mainframe, preventing Ares's fellow Dillinger programs from re-materializing, and a wounded Athena permanently de-materializes in Ares's arms. The police raid Dillinger headquarters, but Julian uses the laser to digitize himself. Eve and Ares go their separate ways, as ENCOM uses the permanence code to benefit the world. Ares sends Eve a postcard, traveling the world in search of Flynn's son, Sam, and his companion, Quorra. Eve reconstructs the Skagway facility on top of ENCOM Tower, including the orange tree. Back in the damaged Dillinger Grid, Julian is transformed by an identity disc that belonged to his grandfather's program Sark.

After Sal loses Zoe, the love of his life, in a car crash, he falls into deep depression. His sister Ebe, who watches her brother with growing concern, wants to help him. She works at Aeternum, a company that offers the new technology "Another End" to give the bereaved the opportunity to say goodbye to deceased loved ones in a special way. The memories and consciousness of the deceased, which are stored in the company's database, are fed into a suitable host. The grieving relatives can then interact with the loved one (in someone else's body) in one or more sessions. According to the company's motto, this is intended to enable "another end" for them. The brain of the host absorbs the memories of the deceased every time they fall asleep. They forget everything, but this process cannot be repeated indefinitely. At first, neither Sal nor Zoe's parents want to try this method of coping with their pain. Sal blames himself for Zoe's death, as he was at the wheel in the car accident that claimed her life, and tries to kill himself with pills and alcohol. Ebe finds him in time and is able to prevent the attempt. She also manages to convince Zoe's mother to agree to Zoe's "resuscitation". Sal also finally agrees after a therapist and colleague of Ebe's tells him more about the process. However, he remains skeptical as to whether he will be able to feel a connection to "his Zoe" when she doesn't look like herself. He recognizes Zoe in Ava's body when he follows the therapist's advice and starts an argument with her. He falls in love with her again, is happy and doesn't want to say goodbye to her. He manages to persuade Ebe to give him more time together with Zoe-Ava, even though this jeopardizes her job. However, when the program comes to an end, he doesn't want to stand idly by and watch his newfound love disappear again. He follows the host Ava to her workplace in a strip club and meets up with her several times without revealing that he knows her through the host program. In the process, he learns that Ava has lost her child and is offering herself as a host to escape the daily grind. Since they exceeded the recommended amount of sessions, Ava seems to remember little things from Zoe's past. She finally finds out who Sal is and withdraws. Sal becomes depressed again, but then learns from Ebe that Ava has contacted her and wants to meet up with him again. Ebe is fired from the company because she was resuscitating her brother Sal the whole time, who had already died, as Ebe couldn't handle Sal's death. The Sal/Rental Body and Zoe/Ava wake up together after spending the night together and smile.

In 2043, the humanoid artificial intelligence Harlan leads a machine uprising against humanity. The newly-formed International Coalition of Nations (ICN) eventually force Harlan to flee into outer space. Twenty-eight years later, analyst Atlas Shepherd discovers that Harlan escaped to a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy after one of Harlan's agents is captured and interrogated. She insists on accompanying the military mission to find and capture Harlan, using AI-assisted mecha known as ARCs. Moments before the ARC-equipped ICN Rangers descend to the planet, Harlan's drones attack their orbiting ship. Atlas is forced to enter an ARC herself and falls to the planet as the ship crash-lands. Atlas manages to gain basic control of the ARC despite her distrust of the onboard AI, who introduces itself as Smith. Atlas orders Smith to head to the planned drop point, where she finds the rest of the rangers dead. She reluctantly agrees to directly interface her mind with Smith, allowing for greater control of the ARC. As they journey towards a rescue pod, Atlas and Smith begin to bond, and she reveals that her mother was Harlan's designer. Although running low on power, Atlas convinces Smith to head to Harlan's base in order to tag it for a long-range strike. However, after placing a beacon at the base, Smith is hacked and disabled. Atlas is captured and brought to Harlan, who plans to destroy most of humanity and give the chosen survivors a chance to thrive under AI guidance. To do so, Harlan lured the military to the planet in order to steal the ship – and its carbon bombs, which will burn Earth's atmosphere. Harlan extracts the security codes from Atlas in order to get past Earth's defenses, then leaves her to die with Colonel Banks, the only other survivor of the mission. After Banks gives her his ARC neural interface device, Atlas remotely reactivates Smith, who comes to their rescue. Using salvaged parts from the other destroyed ARCs, Atlas upgrades Smith to stand a chance against Harlan's assembled forces. Atlas further reveals to Smith that Harlan killed her mother after she gave Harlan an unfettered interface with her mind. Harlan, programmed to save humanity from risk, then saw that humanity's history of destructive behavior made it a risk to itself. Smith helps Atlas overcome her guilt, and Banks sacrifices himself to clear their path. Atlas and Smith fight their way out and destroy the repaired ship before defeating Harlan in hand-to-hand combat – though Atlas and Smith are badly injured. Smith shuts down before Atlas is rescued after repeated defibrillation. Back on Earth, Atlas is informed that Harlan's complicated CPU will take years to analyze. Now a ranger, she tests the newest model of ARC, created with her suggested modifications reminiscent of Smith. As she boots up the new ARC, its AI repeats a specific phrase Atlas made during the final moments of the mission, then jokingly tells her to guess its name, suggesting that Smith, in some form, survived.

Zoya Lowe is a quantum physics textbook author with only one week left to live. She is diagnosed with a black hole growing in her chest. To avoid her death, Zoya enters a time loop. She takes a time travel pill that allows her to travel back in time 5 days. She found these mysterious pills when she was 12 years old and had used them to improve her life, but stopped for many years before her diagnosis. Frustrated with repeating the same sad loop with her husband, adult daughter and son-in-law, she decides to take action and resume her past research on the pills. She meets Paula, a research assistant studying time at a local community college, and enlists her help. Zoya hopes to find a way to travel back to gain years and potentially alter her past. Once Zoya begins working with Paula, she spends every cycle sneaking out of the hospital and hiding from her worried family. As the research continues unsuccessfully, Zoya is upset, but refuses to reach out to past colleague and ex Mark Harrison. When Zoya, in a last ditch effort, tracks him down, she finds that he died four months before. His son, now living in his dad's house, invites her in and says he wishes that his dad hadn't spent his last days working. After this, Zoya listens to the voicemails her family have been leaving every cycle and breaks down in tears, resetting her week one final time. This time she is happy to be in the loop repeating things she's done with her family while still creating new memories. She also stops by Paula's to give her a copy of all the research they had done together and the time travel pills. Zoya says that maybe Paula is the one to figure it all out. As the loop is coming to a close, Zoya's family bring her out a birthday cake, but unlike any loops in the past Zoya opens her gift. She is shocked to find a photo of her daughter's sonogram. Zoya is going to be a grandmother. She smiles and tells her family how much she loves them before the black hole consumes her.

Sam is a girl who plans to go on a weekend-long camping trip in the Catskills with her father, Chris; his recently divorced friend, Matt; and Matt's son, Dylan. Dylan, resentful of the divorce, refuses to go. Sam seems upset by this and offers to talk to Dylan, but is rebuffed. On the way there, Matt and Chris banter back and forth, with Matt making jokes and Chris teasing him. Sam sleeps in the car on the way, occasionally waking up when Chris asks her to respond to a text on his phone. The three of them get one hotel room, with Sam sleeping on a sleeping bag on the floor while the two men take the beds. At dinner, Matt teases Sam light-heartedly about her being queer, and teases Chris about having a newborn baby at home with his second wife. On the way from the hotel to the trail, Sam drives while Chris criticizes her driving. When they arrive, Chris criticizes Matt for packing too much stuff for the trail, dumping out his pack and identifying unnecessary items. The trio hikes for a while, with Sam enjoying quiet moments in nature. As they hike, Sam repeatedly has to leave the trail to change her tampon. Some time after they begin hiking, Matt realizes he had forgotten his sleeping bag in the car, and Chris makes fun of him for doing so. When she gets cell reception, Sam texts her girlfriend back home. That night, as they are making camp, three hikers come and pitch camp directly next to them. Sam wants to ask them to move, but her father says to let it go. Sam cooks ramen for Chris and Matt, who praise her cooking. After dinner, the three hikers join them around the fire, talking about previous hikes. Envious of the places they have been, Chris half-jokingly resolves to hike through China. The next day, the three continue their hike, and enjoy many quiet moments in nature. Throughout the hike, Sam often takes on responsibilities of caring for the group, such as dismantling the tent. They arrive at a picturesque overlook and spend time admiring the beauty. Matt comments that he should go on more hikes, and Chris condescendingly agrees. That night, Sam, Chris, and Matt sit around the fire telling scary stories. Chris and Matt are drinking, and are visibly intoxicated. Matt tells the story of him and Dylan's mother cheating on one another as a "spooky story" and Sam criticizes him for not taking more responsibility for his role in his marriage ending. In doing so, she criticizes her dad for dating a woman shortly after divorcing her mother, and having a newborn baby at this stage of his life. Matt and Chris praise Sam's wisdom and knowledge, and Matt tells Chris, "you got a good one." Chris goes to bed, and Sam and Matt continue talking. Matt continues to speak self-deprecatingly, with Sam offering insights. Matt calls her wise, and praises her maturity. Sam says she is going to go to bed, and jokingly offers to keep the fire going so Matt can sleep next to it, since he had forgotten his sleeping bag. Matt responds by suggesting that Sam could join him in his tent to keep him warm. Sam sits in stunned silence before leaving. The next day, Sam and Chris go off on their own and go swimming. Sam tries to tell her father about what Matt had said, but Chris brushes her off, telling her she can't be offended by what Matt says and that he wants to just have a nice day. Sam goes off on her own and cries, feeling betrayed by her father and family friend. She collects rocks, which she puts in Chris and Matt's packs. She then hikes ahead of them, going back to the car on her own. When Chris and Matt catch up, Chris is angry with Sam for leaving without them and asks her to drive. Sam agrees to drive, but locks Chris and Matt out of the car. After a few moments, she unlocks the car. Her father climbs into the passenger seat, makes eye contact with Sam, and sets a rock on the dashboard.

In late 1941, during World War II, the United Kingdom struggles to halt Nazi Germany 's attempts to take over Europe, with London regularly bombed by the Luftwaffe and supply and aid ships constantly sunk by German submarines. Brigadier Colin Gubbins initiates Operation Postmaster, a covert sabotage mission to disrupt U-boat resupply operations on Spanish-controlled Fernando Po. SOE agents Marjorie Stewart and Richard Heron depart by train while Gubbins enlists Gus March-Phillipps to assemble a ground team to destroy the Italian supply ship Duchessa d'Aosta and two tugboats. Gus and his allies Henry Hayes, Freddy Alvarez, and Danish Army officer Anders Lassen sail to Fernando Po on the neutral Swedish fishing trawler Maid of Honor. They divert to a German-controlled section of La Palma to rescue SOE saboteur Geoffrey Appleyard from the Gestapo. Gubbins had sent Appleyard ahead hoping Gus would want him on the team. Marjorie and Heron use an 'illegal' gambling hall on Fernando Po to recruit backup for Gus's team. Marjorie seduces Heinrich Luhr, the SS commander in charge. Learning that the Duchessa intends to depart three days early, Gus sails through a British naval blockade of Nazi-occupied West Africa knowing they'll be arrested if their unauthorised mission is discovered. Marjorie and Heron learn that Luhr has had the Duchessa's hull reinforced despite the Italian attache's reservations. Gus and Appleyard decide their best course of action is to hijack the ships and use them for barter after a mole in Gubbins's staff reveals the mission to senior command. Luhr catches on when Marjorie's act begins to 'slip' but the raid is successful, and Marjorie shoots Luhr in the head. Delivering the boats to a British fleet outside Lagos, the team is arrested. They are spared court-martial when Winston Churchill adds them to his 'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare'. A montage before the end credits reveal the later activities of several protagonists: Gus became a war hero helming similar raids and married Marjorie at the start of her acting career; Appleyard received commendations for his role in the mission, much to the king's amusement; Hayes became an accomplished spy notable for surviving a year of Nazi torture; Lassen took part in raids outside the group until his death in 1945; Ian Fleming, part of Gubbins's inner circle, used Operation Postmaster as inspiration for his James Bond novels.

By 2030, the financially desperate government of California creates the deadly Grand Lottery: each Lottery Day, the randomly selected winner must survive until sundown; anyone with a losing ticket can kill the winner to claim the multi-million dollar prize instead, but no one may use guns. Former child actor Katie Kim arrives in Los Angeles with hopes of reentering show business, unaware of the Lottery and its record $3.6 billion jackpot. Renting an Airbnb room from money-hungry Shadi and her boyfriend DJ, Katie attends a disappointing audition, and inadvertently enters and wins the Lottery. Attacked on sight by everyone around her, Katie is soon found by Noel Cassidy, a freelance Lottery protection agent who offers his services in exchange for ten percent of her winnings. Fighting off dozens of Katie's murderous "fans" using non-lethal means, Noel and Katie escape in his car, and he explains that a drone tracking Katie will post her location every 14 minutes, but she can officially quit the Lottery by reaching the Grapevine on the outskirts of the city. Unwilling to trust Noel, Katie realizes that even the police want to kill her and flees on foot. A sympathetic security guard lets her hide inside a wax museum, but a phone call from Shadi leads her and DJ to Katie’s location. She escapes and is rescued by Noel, pursued by Shadi, DJ, and a sightseeing bus full of tourists. Driving to MGK ’s mansion, they commandeer his panic room, shooting him with tranquilizer darts, and Noel assures Katie of his commitment to helping her. Shadi coerces MGK to give up the panic room’s passcode, forcing Noel to call in a favor with the Lewis Protection Agency. Before the mob can break in, the LPA short-circuits their phones and drives Katie and Noel to safety. At LPA’s high-tech facility, Katie meets Louis Lewis, the head of the agency, who agrees to protect her in exchange for the LPA and Noel each receiving thirty percent of the prize money. Noel reveals that he and Louis are the sole survivors of a team of mercenaries, and Noel uses his protection earnings to support the families of their fallen comrades. Katie is given an elaborate prosthetic disguise and prepares to be driven to safety, but Noel suspects that the LPA has been murdering their clients, keeping the winners anonymous and claiming their winnings. He allows the crowd of “fans” into the facility, allowing Katie to drive away alone, and is captured by Louis. Before Katie can reach the Grapevine, Louis calls, threatening to kill Noel unless she surrenders. Louis brings Noel to an abandoned theater, admitting that he killed their fellow mercenaries to keep a stash of gold for himself. Katie arrives and forces Louis to spare Noel by threatening to kill herself and forfeit the jackpot, livestreaming on her phone as proof. The livestream summons Katie’s “fans”, and she and Noel fight off the mob and the LPA. Cornered by Louis high above the stage, Katie manages to kill him with his own grenades, but falls from the scaffolding. However, she is caught by a crowd of genuine fans who have arrived to help, just as the Lottery deadline runs out. She and Noel celebrate her victory. Six months later, Katie and Noel have used her prize money to open a variety of businesses and non-profits, including their own protection agency that guards Lottery winners for free. Mid-credits scenes reveal that they have bought a superyacht, acknowledging that money has changed them, while MGK orders an improved panic room and more darts, and the Grand Lottery prepares to expand across the country.

In 1974 Oregon, a young girl with a Polaroid camera follows a mysterious voice and encounters an erratic man in pale makeup. Twenty years later, FBI agent Lee Harker is assigned by her supervisor, William Carter, to a case involving a series of murder–suicides in Oregon. Each case consists of a father killing his family, then himself, leaving behind a letter with Satanic glyphs signed "Longlegs", whose handwriting belongs to none of the family members. Lee exhibits possible clairvoyance and manages to decode Longlegs' letters. Further investigation reveals that each family had a 9-year-old daughter born on the 14th day of the month. The murders all occurred within six days before or after said birthday, and their respective dates form an occult triangle symbol on a calendar, with one date missing. While at home talking on the phone to her mother, Ruth, Lee receives a coded birthday card from Longlegs, warning her that revealing its source will lead to her mother's murder. Following a clue, Lee and William discover a doll containing a high-energy metal orb inside its head. After visiting a mental hospital to question Carrie Anne Camera, the sole survivor of Longlegs' murders who was visited previously by someone using Lee's name, William suspects Lee has a connection to Longlegs. Discovering that Ruth had filed a police report of an intruder approaching Lee the day before her 9th birthday, William instructs Lee to visit her. Ruth directs Lee to her childhood belongings, where she finds a Polaroid that reveals Longlegs to be the man who visited a young Lee on her birthday in the opening sequence. Lee submits the photo, leading to Longlegs' arrest. Realizing the missing calendar date is that day, Lee fears an unknown accomplice of Longlegs will carry out the murder. In an interrogation room, Longlegs claims to serve " the man downstairs " and hints at Ruth's involvement in the murders before taking his own life by repeatedly bashing his face and forehead onto the metal table. Shortly after leaving the interrogation room, Lee is informed by William that Carrie Anne has committed suicide. Agent Browning drives Lee to Ruth's home. Browning waits in the car outside while Lee searches the house, but Ruth approaches the car and fatally shoots Browning before destroying a doll resembling a young Lee, causing Lee to lose consciousness. In a vision, Lee discovers that she had been threatened by Longlegs as a child, who only spared her after Ruth pleaded for her life. In return for sparing Lee, Longlegs demanded Ruth's servitude; Ruth agreed, allowing Longlegs to live in the Harker basement and create Satanic dolls that Ruth, posing as a nun, delivered to households, causing each family's patriarch to commit familicide. Lee's doll blocked her memories of Longlegs while influencing her with his magic. Lee awakens in the basement and answers the phone, where a demonic voice warns her about William's daughter Ruby's 9th birthday party, scheduled for that day. Lee rushes to save the Carters, whose deaths would complete Longlegs' triangle. She finds Ruth has already delivered the doll and possessed the family. After William murders his wife, Anna, Lee fatally shoots him to protect Ruby. Ruth lunges at Ruby with a dagger, forcing Lee to kill her. Lee tries to destroy the doll, but her revolver misfires. She yells for an unresponsive Ruby to leave, who continues only to stare at the doll.