Jay and Annie Hargrove are a married couple who used to have sex at every opportunity. Now, after having two kids, they rarely are intimate. Getting her mother to keep the kids overnight, the couple try roleplaying and try having sex in less orthodox parts of the house, but then Jay struggles to get an erection. So, Annie suggests making a sex tape and they film themselves having sex in every position listed in The Joy of Sex on his tablet. When done, Annie asks Jay to delete the recording to be safe, but an application on the tablet ends up instead inadvertently synchronizing the video to several iPads he had given away over time. After failing to get it out of the cloud, they set out to get back all of the gifted iPads, leading to a series of awkward encounters and close calls. The couple relatively easily manage to delete the video on both her mother's and their son's tablets. Their close friends, Robbie and Tess, invite them in and then Annie and Jay end up having to explain themselves. Their friends, without any real plans, tag along as they seek the tablets. Their most challenging recovery of a tablet is from the house of Annie's potential boss, Hank Rosenbaum. Under the guise of seeking money for a charity, Annie distracts him while Jay searches the house for the tablet. In the process, she tries cocaine for the first time and Jay battles with Hank's German shepherd. In the end, Robbie and Tess are the ones who get it back. After collecting the iPads and deleting the videos, their friend's son, Howard, threatens to upload a copy of their sex tape to YouPorn unless they give him $25,000. After failing to get the money, they break into the YouPorn headquarters and begin to destroy their web servers. The couple's plan is quickly thwarted when an alarm sounds. The owner, his guards and his wife confront them and threaten to call the police. However, after explaining it was to protect their family, their two young children come out. The owner's wife convinces him to take pity on them, so he agrees not to do so in exchange for $15,000 to cover the damage. Removing their video, he explains that all they had to do to have a video removed was send him an email request to do so. After they have deleted all videos, Howard comes over to the house and gives Jay the only remaining copy of the video on a USB flash drive. This is in exchange for being allowed to hang out with their son, Clive, since he is his only friend. As the film comes to a close, Jay and Annie decide to watch the video once themselves. Afterwards, they take the USB flash drive and go outside to smash it with a hammer, blend it, burn it with fire, and bury the remains.

In 2047, a distress signal is received from the Event Horizon, a spaceship that disappeared during its maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri seven years earlier. The ship has mysteriously reappeared in orbit around Neptune, prompting the US Aerospace Command to dispatch the Lewis and Clark rescue vessel to investigate. Its crew members—Captain Miller, second-in-command Lieutenant Starck, pilot Smith, medical technician Peters, engineer Justin, doctor D.J., and rescue technician Cooper—are joined by Dr. William Weir, who designed the Event Horizon. Shortly before arrival at the Event Horizon, Weir briefs them on the ship's experimental gravity drive with a simple visualization of how it folds spacetime to instantly transport the ship across vast distances. He then plays them the distress signal, which consists of screams, howls, and what sounds like a voice. D.J. recognizes it as the Latin phrase "līberāte mē", which he translates as "save me". Upon boarding the Event Horizon, the crew finds signs of a massacre. As they search for survivors, the ship's gravity drive activates and briefly pulls Justin into a portal before unleashing a shock wave that breaches the hull of the Lewis and Clark. The crew is forced to move to the Event Horizon while Cooper rescues Justin from the portal, finding that he has been reduced to a catatonic state. Smith and Cooper are sent on a spacewalk to repair the hull of the Lewis and Clark while the rest of the crew begin to experience hallucinations of their biggest fears and regrets. Miller sees Eddie Corrick, a subordinate from a previous journey who he left to die in order to save the other crew members. Peters sees her son with his legs covered in bloody lesions, while Weir sees a vision of his late wife, now eyeless, urging him to join her. Justin suddenly wakes from his coma while the entire ship seems to be shaking and attempts to vent himself from the airlock; he is saved at the last second by Miller, who places a severely injured Justin in stasis. Shaken, Miller confides in D.J. about his hallucinations, prompting D.J. to reveal that he found a longer phrase in the distress signal. It really says "libera te tutemet ex inferis", which he translates as "save yourself from Hell ". D.J. concludes that the ship's drive must have opened a gateway to somewhere beyond the known universe and brought something horrible back with it. His conclusion gains more credibility when a video log is discovered on the Event Horizon, showing the ship's crew members horrifically brutalizing each other after engaging the gravity drive, with their captain chanting in Latin as he holds his own eyeballs in his hands. Miller immediately orders his crew to speed up their evacuation, ignoring Weir's protests to the contrary. Miller and Smith retrieve CO2 scrubbers from the Event Horizon as Peters is lured to her death by a hallucination of her son. Weir finds her body and is flung into a hallucination of his wife's suicide, driving him to gouge out his own eyes and embrace the ship's evil presence. Now corrupted, he uses an explosive to destroy the Lewis and Clark, killing Smith and blasting Cooper into space before killing D.J. by vivisecting him. Miller confronts Weir on the bridge but is overpowered. Weir initiates a 10-minute countdown to activate the gravity drive and return the ship to the hellish dimension. Meanwhile, Cooper uses his spacesuit's oxygen supply to propel himself back to the ship and appears at the bridge window. Weir shoots at him, shattering the window and blowing himself into space with the decompression. Miller, Starck, and Cooper survive and manage to seal off the ship's bridge. With their own ship destroyed, Miller plans to split the Event Horizon in two with explosives and use its forward section as a lifeboat. He is attacked by hallucinations which turn out to be the resurrected and even more mutilated Weir. Miller fights him at the gravity drive and detonates the explosives, sacrificing himself to save his remaining crew. The gravity drive activates, pulling the ship's stern into a black hole. Starck and Cooper enter stasis beside a comatose Justin and wait to be rescued. 72 days later, the wreckage of the Event Horizon is boarded by a rescue party who discover the survivors in stasis. Starck hallucinates Weir as one of the rescuers and screams but she quickly awakens, realizing that it was only a nightmare. Cooper and the rescue team try to calm the terrified Starck as the doors close.

Kang In-ho is driving to the fictional city of Mujin, North Jeolla Province to accept a position as the art teacher at Ja-ae Academy, a special needs school for Deaf children. Upon arriving at the academy, In-ho meets with headmaster Lee Gang-seok and his identical twin brother, admin head Lee Gang-bok. He is excited to teach his new students, yet the children are aloof and distant, and avoid running into him as much as possible. In-ho persists in trying to show the kids that he cares. When the students finally open up, In-ho discovers the shocking and ugly truth about the school: the students have been secretly enduring physical and sexual abuse by the teachers and administration. In-ho decides to expose the crimes being committed at the school and collaborates with human rights activist Seo Yoo-jin. However, In-ho and Yoo-jin soon realize the school's headmaster, teachers, staff, and even the police, prosecutors and community combine to cover up the truth. In-ho is fired from his position, but he stays in Mujin to pursue justice for the children. The defense attorney uses " privileges of the former post " and the accused unhesitatingly lie and bribe their way into getting very light sentences. Using their last night of freedom to go out partying, the Lee brothers and Park Bo-hyun (one of the sexually abusive teachers), are laughing with their attorney that the judge was so easy to pay off for a light sentence. As Park leaves the party and walks home, he bumps into Min-su (one of the victims) along the way. Attempting to force the boy to come to his home to be raped once more, Park is shocked when Min-su stabs him in the side with a knife, having fallen into despair from his lost chance to put Park away for good. Park brushes off the stabbing and smacks Min-su to the ground, viciously beating and kicking the boy, proclaiming he will kill him. As he tries to finish Min-su off, Park is overpowered by the boy, who flings both of them onto a nearby railroad track. As an oncoming train barrels toward them, Park screaming in pain, suffering, and despair, losing blood, weakened by the stab wound, is held down by Min-su refusing to let him escape, before they are both killed. Later, at a protest, In-ho and students Yeon-doo and Yoo-ri are seen mourning Min-su's death. A group of protesters and activists fill the street, when police attempt to disperse them. However, since most are deaf-mute, they continue unaware, forcing police use water cannons to disperse them. As the clash plays out, In-ho stands amid the chaos carrying a picture of Min-su, repeatedly chanting, "Everyone! This boy could neither hear nor speak. This child is called Min-su," before he is apprehended by the police. The movie ends with In-ho back in Seoul where he receives an email from Yoo-jin with an update: the appeal to the case was lost but the children's condition has improved.

Grace Howard is the young supervisor of Short Term 12, a group home for troubled teenagers. She lives with her long-term boyfriend and coworker, Mason, but finds it difficult to open up to him emotionally. When Grace finds out she is pregnant, she schedules an appointment for an abortion; she eventually tells Mason about the pregnancy; he is overjoyed. She does not tell him she plans to have an abortion. At their facility, Grace and Mason focus their efforts on Marcus, a resident who is about to turn 18 and is struggling with the prospect of leaving the facility. Grace bonds with Jayden, a recent arrival at Short Term 12 who has a history of self-harm. Jayden distances herself from the other teenagers, as she does not intend to stay at the facility for long. When her father fails to pick her up on her birthday, she reacts violently toward the staff. After her outburst, she sits in the "cool-down room" with Grace, who shows Jayden her own scars from cutting herself. That night, Jayden leaves the facility in the middle of her birthday celebrations. Unable to force her to return, Grace follows Jayden to her father's house. After finding the house empty, they return to Short Term 12. When Jayden reads Grace a metaphorical story she has written, Grace begins to suspect that Jayden was abused by her father. At a party hosted by Mason's foster parents, he proposes to Grace, who accepts. The following morning, Grace is upset by a phone call that reveals her father is being released from prison. She refuses to be consoled by Mason. She arrives at Short Term 12 to discover that Jayden has been picked up by her father overnight. She is angry at the decision to send Jayden back to her father, but her boss maintains that Jayden denied that she was abused by him. Later that day, Grace finds that Marcus has attempted to commit suicide after the death of his fish. While waiting at the hospital as Marcus is being treated, Grace breaks down. Mason becomes upset for her refusing to talk to him about how she feels; instead, she tells him that she no longer wants to marry him and that she plans to have an abortion. She returns to Jayden's father's house and breaks in, intending to kill him while he sleeps, but she is interrupted by Jayden, who suggests that they smash his car instead. Grace tells Jayden that she was sexually abused by her own father and that he got her pregnant. After Jayden shows Grace bruises from blows by her father, they return together to Short Term 12, where Jayden reports her father for physical abuse. Grace goes home to apologize to Mason, who tells her that Marcus will recover. Several weeks later, Grace starts seeing a therapist. She is shown viewing an ultrasound of her fetus with Mason. Mason tells the rest of the staff about running into Marcus, who is doing well and has a girlfriend.

Shaun, a mischievous sheep living with his flock at Mossy Bottom Farm, is bored with the routine of life on the farm. He concocts a plan to have a day off by tricking the farmer into going back to sleep by counting his sheep repeatedly. However, the caravan in which they put the farmer to bed accidentally rolls away, taking him into a city. Bitzer, the farmer's dog, chases after him. The farmer receives a blow to the head and is taken to a hospital, where he is diagnosed with amnesia. Upon leaving, he wanders into a hair salon and, acting on a vague recollection of shearing his sheep, cuts a celebrity's hair. The celebrity loves the result and the farmer gains popularity as a hair stylist called "Mr. X". Meanwhile, the sheep find life impossible without the farmer, so Shaun sneaks onto a bus to the city; to his surprise, the rest of the flock follow him on another bus. They disguise themselves as people and begin looking for the farmer, but Shaun is caught by Trumper, an animal control worker. Shaun is reunited with Bitzer in the animal lock-up, and with the help of a homeless dog named Slip, they manage to escape while imprisoning Trumper. They find the farmer, but he does not recognise them because of his amnesia and shoos them away. Heartbroken, Shaun, Bitzer, and the flock take shelter in a dark alleyway, where they find evidence of the farmer's amnesia, lifting their spirits. They put the farmer to sleep again, returning him to the trailer on a pantomime horse. They are attacked by Trumper with a taser, who is then pulled down the alleyway. At the farm, the group hides in a shed. Trumper uses the farmer's tractor in an attempt to push the shed into a nearby rock quarry. The farmer wakes up, and, seeing his reflection with the animals, regains his memories. The animals and farmer work together to stop Trumper, and he is ultimately defeated when a bull sends him flying over the quarry and into some manure. Slip leaves, but is adopted by a bus driver who finds her on the road. The farmer and the animals have a renewed appreciation for each other, and the next day, the farmer cancels the routine activities for an official week off. The animal control service is turned into an animal protection centre, Trumper finds work wearing a chicken suit to promote a restaurant as a punishment for his crimes, and the farmer sees a news report detailing some of the mayhem he slept through during his rescue from the city, much to his and the animals' shock.

In 1920s America, Mary, a young girl exposed from her infancy to evil influences, is in love with Harry, a sculptor, but for the sake of financial gain becomes engaged to be married to the rich banker Jackson Harber, a much older man, and the former lover of her mother. Harry attempts suicide. By her abandoned behaviour, including her attempted seduction not only of Harber's adolescent son, Eduard, but also of Eduard's tutor, a priest, Mary drives Harber to the verge of suicide as well. The first historical sequence shows Mary as the Queen of Syria who cruelly executes a young goldsmith and jeweller (played by the same actor as Eduard). Back in the present, Mary has arranged an assignation with both Harber and Eduard, neither knowing of the intentions of the other, at night in a summerhouse. While waiting for them she falls asleep: an Expressionist dream shows Harber and Eduard fighting over her, and Eduard killing his father. This is succeeded by the main historical sequence, the wickedness and destruction of Sodom, in which Mary now appears as Lea (Lia), Lot 's wife. The dreams shock Mary into a realisation of the true nature and consequences of her behaviour, and she returns in penitence to Harry.

Sun Ra, who has been reported lost since his European tour in June 1969, lands on a new planet in outer space with his crew, known as "the Arkestra", and decides to settle African Americans on this planet. The medium of transportation he chooses for this resettlement is music. He travels back in time and returns to the Chicago strip club where he used to play piano with the name "Sonny Ray" in 1943, where he confronts the Overseer (Ray Johnson), a pimp -overlord, and they agree on a game of cards for the fate of the Black race. In present time (the early 1970s), Ra disembarks from his spaceship in Oakland and tries to spread word of his plans. He meets with young African Americans at an Oakland youth centre and opens an "Outer Space Employment Agency" to recruit people eager to move to the planet. He also agrees with Jimmy Fey (Christopher Brooks) — an employee of the Overseer — to arrange radio interviews, a record album, and eventually a concert that will help him dictate his message. As the card game between Ra and the Overseer is played, and it becomes clear that the Overseer is winning, Ra's plans to recruit local black youth for his new utopian space colony suffer setbacks. Many of them are suspicious of Ra, accusing him of faking his outer-spatial origin as a gimmick to boost his record sales. He is kidnapped by a team of white NASA scientists who threaten him with violence, desperate to learn the secrets to his space-travel technology. As Ra's concert rapidly approaches, he is saved by three local teenagers, who escort him to the music hall just in time. At the concert, as the Arkestra play their signature free jazz, the NASA scientists appear and attempt to assassinate Ra with a pistol. One of the teenagers jumps in front of the bullet, saving Ra's life, and as he is bleeding out on the stage, Sun Ra waves his hand and the teenager, his friends, and Ra himself all disappear from the music hall. One by one, black people across Oakland vanish into thin air and reappear on Ra's spaceship. Jimmy Fey resists leaving Earth on Ra's spaceship, but Ra doesn't let Fey leave; Ra takes Fey's "black parts" with him onto the spaceship, leaving his "white parts" behind on Earth. Fey, now acting white, leaves the Overseer, who loses the duel. As Ra's spaceship launches off into the cosmos and music begins playing, a montage implies that Earth is destroyed in its wake.

Wealthy Texan Big Enos Burdette and his son, Little Enos, frequently bet notable truckers in Atlanta to bootleg 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta in 28 hours, but all have failed with many being arrested. They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a truck rodeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds and offer him $80,000 (equivalent to $322,260 in 2024) to take the bet. The Bandit accepts and recruits his friend Cledus "Snowman" Snow and Fred, Cledus' Basset Hound, to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black 1977 Pontiac Trans Am (Trigger) as a "blocker" to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo. The pair arrives in Texarkana an hour early and load the truck, but as they begin their return journey, Bandit is intercepted by Carrie, a runaway bride who suddenly jumps into his car. Unbeknownst to him, this makes Bandit an indirect target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, a seasoned Texas lawman whose dimwitted son, Junior, was supposed to marry Carrie. The Justice father and son engage in a high-speed hot pursuit, doggedly chasing Bandit all the way to Georgia to retrieve Carrie and arrest the Bandit. Successive comical mishaps cause the Justice's cruiser to experience increasing damage along the way. Bandit attracts more police attention across Dixie as Cledus barrels toward Atlanta with the contraband beer. They are helped en route by many colorful characters via CB radio. Neither Buford nor any other lawmen know of Cledus's illegal manifest, while Bandit is likewise unaware that Buford is chasing him because of Carrie, whose jumpiness inspires Bandit to give her the CB handle "Frog". Just after re-entering Georgia, Cledus is rescued by Bandit after being stopped by a Georgia State Patrol motorcycle trooper, as state and local police intensely pursue Bandit with roadblocks and a helicopter to track his movement. With 4 mi (6.4 km) remaining, Bandit, discouraged by the unexpected mounting attention, is ready to relent, but Cledus, who initially thought they would fail, takes the lead and smashes through the roadblock at the fairgrounds' main entrance. They reach their destination with ten minutes to spare. However, instead of taking the winnings, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. They quickly escape in Big Enos's 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible as police flood the racetrack. Buford arrives at the fairgrounds, his cruiser now a barely functioning wreck. When Bandit passes him, he uses his CB to contact Buford, and the pair briefly exchange some mutual respect before Buford demands to know Bandit's whereabouts. Bandit initially directs him to the Burdettes, but he then respectfully gives his real location right behind Buford, who continues his chase, leaving Junior behind, and with more parts falling off his cruiser as he limps off after Bandit.

In the early 1980s, Jaime Escalante becomes a mathematics teacher at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Latino students from working-class families have academic achievement far below their grade level. Students Angel and another gangster arrive late and question Escalante's authority. Escalante demonstrates how to multiply numbers using one's fingers and appeals to the students' sense of humor. After class, some gangsters threaten him. After school, he stops the gangsters from fighting. Escalante decides to teach the students algebra. At a meeting, he learns that the school's accreditation is under threat, as test scores are not high enough. He says that students will rise to the level that is expected of them and gives the students a quiz every morning. He instructs his class under the philosophy of ganas. Escalante tells other faculty that he wants to teach the students calculus, seeking to change the school culture to help the students excel in academics. Other teachers ridicule him, as the students have not taken the prerequisites. Escalante states that the students can take the prerequisites over the summer, setting a goal of having the students take Advanced Placement Calculus by their senior year. The students sign up for the prerequisites over the summer. In the fall, he gives them contracts to be signed by the parents; they must come in on Saturdays, show up an hour early to school, and stay until 5pm in order to prepare for the AP Calculus exam. Two weeks before the exam, Escalante teaches an ESL class when he suddenly clutches at his torso in pain, stumbles into the hallway, and falls. Escalante escapes from the hospital and shows up at school to continue teaching. After taking the AP calculus exam, the students head to the beach and celebrate. All 18 students who took the exam pass it. At a meeting to congratulate them, a plaque of appreciation is presented to Escalante. To the dismay of Escalante and the students, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) questions the students' exam scores. Escalante finds an anonymous letter of resignation in his school mail and walks home that evening, as his car has been stolen. Dismayed, he confides in his wife that he regrets having taught calculus because the students did well but nothing changed. Fabiola reassures him, stating that his students appreciate his efforts. Outside, students surprise him by fixing his car. Escalante meets with the investigators from ETS and offers to have the students retake the test. Despite having only one day to prepare, all the students pass, and Escalante demands that the original scores be reinstated. End captions indicate that in the summer of 1982, Escalante's entire class passed AP Calculus and in subsequent years, his program became even more successful.

In Melbourne, Errol Wallace is a financial business consultant whom we meet in the course of his being hired by the board of Durmack, an automotive component manufacturer, where he assesses a large work force redundancy and recommends major layoffs. Balls, a moccasin factory located in the Melbourne suburb of Spotswood, is his next client. Mr. Ball, the owner of the company, is affable and treats his employees benevolently. Wallace on a factory tour finds the conditions wanting with shabbiness, old machinery and the workers lackadaisical. A young worker at Balls, Carey, who is finding his place in the world and life, is asked by Wallace to assist in his review, compiling worker condition and performance information. Carey is reluctant until he learns that Mr. Ball's daughter Cheryl, whom he fancies, is part of the review staff. Wallace learns that there is an instigator in the midst, his colleague Jerry, who leaks the Durmack report, inflating the quantity of sackings as a means to demoralise the union. Kim Barry, a salesman at Balls who also has his sights set on the boss's daughter, shows his ruthlessness and ulterior motives when he comes to Wallace's home one night with a complete set of the company financial records that detail non-existent profit for years and reveal that Ball has been selling off company assets to keep the outfit afloat. Wallace realises that whatever productivity improvements have been implemented are not enough to save the company even with an elimination of workers and yet that is his recommendation. Mr. Ball responds, "It's not just about dollars and cents. It's about dignity, treating people with respect". Wallace's mind set starts to change when his car is vandalised and some Ball workers come to his aid, workers who then start to include him in their off-hours activities. Mr. Ball announces the work force redundancies and Wallace is clearly uncomfortable seeing them, knowing that it was his recommendation that sealed their fate. The union at Durmack capitulates and management celebrates with a party during which Wallace becomes further disenchanted by what he sees as the rash sackings. He then realises that Balls may have a competitive advantage that could potentially make the company profitable. If Balls stop trying to compete on price on a few products, but instead have a very large product range, then all the perceived inefficiencies (old machinery and a large number of highly skilled experienced workers), become opportunities for growth. Carey realises he has feelings for his work mate and friend Wendy and together they climb up onto the roof of the factory and hold hands. In the final shot, they look out over the West Gate Bridge, which opened in 1978 - an ending which deliberately leaves it ambiguous as to when the film is actually set.

Vassili Zaitsev, a replacement soldier of the Red Army, arrives east of the River Volga during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. After a dangerous trip across the river into the city, he is forced to join a human wave attack carrying only rifle cartridges. He takes cover during the chaotic battle with Commissar Danilov. With one rifle, Vassili kills five German soldiers before they escape. Red Army commander Nikita Khrushchev asks his subordinates how to improve morale. Danilov recommends inspiring hope rather than punishing in fear and suggests that they revive the army newspaper and publishes heroic tales of Vassili's exploits. Vassili is transferred to the sniper division and becomes friends with Danilov. Both also become romantically interested in Tania Chernova, a private in the local militia. In fear for her safety, Danilov has her transferred to an intelligence unit, ostensibly to make use of her German skills in translating radio intercepts. With Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the Germans, Major Erwin König is deployed to kill Vassili and crush Soviet morale. When the Red Army command learns of König's mission after he wipes out Vassili's sniper unit, they dispatch König's former student Koulikov to help Vassili kill him. König, however, outmaneuvers Koulikov and kills him, shaking Vassili's spirits. Danilov finds a boy, Sacha Filipov, who volunteers to act as a double agent by passing König false information about Vassili's whereabouts in exchange for food. Vassili sets a trap for König and manages to wound him with the help of Tania. During a second attempt, Vassili falls asleep, and his sniper log is stolen by a looting German soldier. The German command takes the log as evidence of Vassili's death and plans to send König home, but König does not believe that Vassili is dead. General Friedrich Paulus confiscates König's dog tags to prevent Soviet propaganda from profiting if König is killed and identified. In turn, König gives the general a War Merit Cross that was posthumously awarded to his son, a lieutenant in the 116th Infantry Division who was killed in the early days of the battle. König tells Sacha where he will be next after deducing that the boy is responsible for his being wounded. Tania and Vassili have meanwhile fallen in love. That night, Tania secretly goes to the Soviet barracks and makes love with Vassili. The jealous Danilov disparages Vassili in a letter to his superiors. König spots Tania and Vassili waiting for him at his next ambush spot, confirming his suspicions about Sacha. He then kills the boy and hangs his body to bait Vassili. Vassili vows to kill König and asks Tania and Danilov to evacuate Sacha's mother. Tania is wounded by shrapnel en route to the boats. Thinking she is dead, Danilov regrets his jealousy of Vassili and even his ardor for communist ideals begins to falter. Finding Vassili waiting to ambush König, Danilov removes his helmet and exposes himself to provoke König into shooting him and revealing his own position. Thinking that he has killed Vassili, König goes to inspect the body only to find himself in Vassili's rifle sights. Accepting his fate and removing his cap, König grimly turns to look Vassili in the face before being shot in the head. Two months later, after Stalingrad has been liberated and German forces have surrendered, Vassili finds Tania alive and recovering in a field hospital.

Fifth Avenue socialite Ouisa Kittredge and her art dealer husband Flan are parents of "two at Harvard and a girl at Groton." However, the narrow world inhabited by the Kittredges and their public status as people interested in the arts make them easy prey for Paul. A skillful con-artist, Paul mysteriously appears at their door one night, injured and bleeding, claiming to be a close college friend of their Ivy League kids, as well as the son of Sidney Poitier. Ouisa and Flan are much impressed by Paul's fine taste, keen wit, articulate literary expositions and surprising culinary skill. His appealing facade fades as soon as the Kittredges put him up, lending him money and taking satisfaction in his praise for their posh lifestyle. Paul's scheme continues until, after he brings home a hustler, his actual indigence is revealed. The shocked Kittredges kick him out when it is revealed that they are but the most recent victims of the duplicity with which Paul has charmed his way into many upper-crust homes along the Upper East Side. Paul's schemes become anecdotes which are bantered about at their cocktail parties. In the end, Paul has a profound effect on the many individuals who encounter him, linking them in their shared experience.