In Los Angeles, Barry Egan is a bachelor who owns a company that markets themed toilet plungers and other novelty items. He has seven overbearing sisters who regularly ridicule and emotionally abuse him, and he leads a lonely life punctuated by fits of rage and social anxiety. One day, Barry witnesses an inexplicable car accident, picks up an abandoned harmonium from the street, and meets Lena Leonard, a co-worker of Elizabeth, one of his sisters. Lena had orchestrated the meeting after seeing him in Elizabeth's family picture at work. Barry attends his sister's birthday party, where they tease him about his sexuality, leading to a violent outburst in which he breaks sliding glass doors. Afterwards, he privately asks his brother-in-law to refer him to a therapist. At home, Barry calls a phone sex line to cope with his loneliness. The phone sex operator tries to extort money from him and then sends four henchmen, who are brothers, to collect. This complicates his budding relationship with Lena, as well as his plan to exploit a loophole in a Healthy Choice promotion and amass a million frequent-flyer miles by purchasing large quantities of pudding. When Lena leaves for Hawaii on a business trip, Barry decides to follow her. He uses his sister to find Lena, who is overjoyed to see him. As the two spend time together, Barry's sister calls Lena, who lies to her about being in contact with him. The romance develops further, leading to Barry's relief from his emotional isolation. On the return trip, the four brothers ram Barry's car, mildly injuring Lena. After fighting them off with a tire iron, Barry leaves her at the hospital and sets out to end the harassment. He calls the phone sex line back and discovers the "supervisor" is the owner of a mattress store. Barry drives all the way to Provo, Utah, to confront the owner, Dean, face to face. At first, trying to intimidate Barry, Dean finds him more intimidating once he learns that he has come all the way from California. They both agree "that's that". Returning home, Barry visits Lena to explain why the accident happened. He begs for forgiveness, pledging his loyalty and to use his frequent-flyer miles to accompany her on all future business trips after his pudding miles are processed. Lena confesses she was more upset at being left at the hospital, but forgives Barry and they embrace.

A joint British–American plan is devised to steal the MiG-31 "Firefox", a highly advanced Soviet fighter jet. Capable of Mach 6 hypersonic flight, the Firefox is invisible to radar and carries weaponry controlled by human thought, threatening to give the Soviets a military advantage over the West. Retired U.S. Air Force Major Mitchell Gant —an experienced pilot, Vietnam veteran, ex-member of an aggressor squadron, and former prisoner of war—is deemed well-suited for the task, despite his affliction with " delayed stress syndrome ". Air Force Captain Buckholz makes an unannounced helicopter trip to Gant's home in Alaska and explains the mission. Gant has two further advantages: he speaks Russian, thanks to his Russian mother, and will be aided by a network of Soviet dissidents, three of whom are scientists working on the fighter plane itself. His mission, as directed by the British–American team and arranged by the S.I.S., is to infiltrate the Soviet Union, steal the Firefox, and fly it back to friendly territory for analysis. Kenneth Aubrey, the British spymaster guiding the plan, briefs Gant in London. Gant enters Moscow disguised as Leon Sprague, a businessman and heroin smuggler. Gant and the dissidents make a rendezvous with the real Sprague but, to the shock of Gant, one of them kills Sprague and plants Gant's false identification papers on the corpse. Gant assumes several identities during his mission. He is questioned by a KGB agent in a metro station, but blows his cover and kills the agent in a fight, barely escaping the station afterward. While the KGB is concerned about the Firefox, they do not yet know who Gant is. Aided by the dissidents, Gant remains one step ahead of the KGB and reaches the air base at Bilyarsk, where the Firefox prototype is under heavy guard. The dissidents working on the Firefox help Gant infiltrate the base. Pyotr Baranovich, one of the dissident scientists, briefs Gant about the aircraft and warns that there is a second prototype in the hangar. A fire will destroy the second plane and cause a diversion, allowing Gant to hijack the first plane. Gant knocks out Lt. Colonel Yuri Voskov, a Soviet pilot assigned to perform a test flight while the Soviet First Secretary visits. Alone with the unconscious Voskov, Gant decides to spare his life. The KGB finally learns Gant's identity, but it is too late. Although the scientists start the fire, the second prototype survives. Baranovich is singled out by Soviet personnel and draws a pistol, managing to shoot one of the guards before he is gunned down. As the commotion unfolds, Gant boards the Firefox and taxis out of the hangar. Colonel Kontarsky orders his men to open fire, but Gant successfully takes off. The British–American team, monitoring Soviet communications, realize that he is airborne. The Soviet First Secretary contacts Gant and tells him to return the plane. After Gant refuses, he orders the plane destroyed. Gant begins flying south to confuse his pursuers, then turns north. He narrates his actions on the cockpit voice recorder while the Soviets frantically try to stop him. General Vladimirov plans a trap for the Firefox, but Gant destroys a Soviet plane instead, and the First Secretary berates Vladimirov. Gant engages a homing device en route to a U.S. submarine, which will refuel him after he lands on the polar ice pack. A Soviet ship launches missiles, but none hit the plane. Gant reaches the submarine, whose crew refuel and rearm the Firefox. However, Gant's decision to let Voskov live has consequences—the Soviet pilot flies the second prototype, with orders to intercept him in the North Cape area. Gant is flying home when Voskov appears, engaging him in a dogfight. After a hard-fought battle, Gant fires a rearward missile with the aircraft's thought-control system, and Voskov's plane is destroyed. Gant continues his flight to safety.

Ben Crandall is a young teenage boy living in a fictional Maryland suburb, who experiences vivid dreams about flying through clouds and over a vast, city-like circuit board, usually after falling asleep watching old sci-fi films. Upon waking from the dream, he draws a diagram of the circuit board and shows the sketches to his friend, child prodigy Wolfgang Muller. At school, Ben develops a crush on Lori Swenson but is unsure whether it is mutual. The boys also befriend punkish-but-likable Darren Woods, with whom they share their circuit-board concepts. Wolfgang builds an actual microchip based on Ben's drawings. The chip enables the generation of an electromagnetic bubble which surrounds a pre-determined area. The boys discover that the bubble is capable of moving at near-limitless distances and speeds without ill effects from inertia. Due to Darren’s connections at a local junkyard and his mechanical skills, the three boys construct a rudimentary spacecraft out of an abandoned Tilt-A-Whirl car and name it Thunder Road, after Bruce Springsteen 's song of the same name. After Ben receives more dreams about the circuit board, Wolfgang discovers a means of producing unlimited sustainable oxygen; this means longer flights, whereas previously they were limited to whatever a typical oxygen tank could hold. They finalize their plan to explore the galaxy in search of alien life. The boys complete lift-off, despite interference from the authorities (one who silently wishes them well). Shortly after breaking Earth's orbit, something overrides the boys' personal computer -controls. Thunder Road is beamed light-years away into deep space and is tractor-beamed aboard a much larger spaceship. The boys venture out to meet their "captors", Wak and Neek: two aliens whose knowledge of Earth comes almost entirely from pop culture, particularly TV reruns. The young explorers hit it off with their alien hosts, but then the alien ship is suddenly intercepted by a larger alien ship. Wak urges the boys to leave. They are in the process of doing so when they are interrupted by a gigantic alien who admonishes Wak and Neek. It is revealed that Wak and Neek are brother and sister, and the gigantic creature is their father; they have taken his ship out for a "joy ride", sending the dreams to the boys in the hopes of meeting humans. Transmissions of old movies have kept the alien populace at a distance – except for the curious Wak and Neek – due to the way humans depict violence toward alien life. Wak and Neek's father allows "Thunder Road" and its crew to depart, after Wak and Neek give the boys a parting gift: an amulet, which, according to the aliens, is "the stuff dreams are made of." The boys make it safely back to Earth, but a malfunction results in them crashing "Thunder Road" into a lake. A week later, Ben has a dream at school in which he envisions another vast circuit board while flying through more clouds overhead. This time – thanks to Wak and Neek's amulet – Ben is joined in the dream by Wolfgang, Darren, and Lori. They note the circuitry's complexity and speculate where it may take them once completed. Lori smiles at Ben while holding his hand, and they share a kiss while flying.

In 2154, Earth is overpopulated, diseased, and heavily polluted from ecocide. The planet's citizens live in extreme poverty. In contrast, the rich and powerful live on Elysium, an orbiting space station just outside Earth's atmosphere, with luxuries including Med-Bays, medical devices that can heal any disease or condition. Spider, a hacker living in Los Angeles, runs a space shuttle operation to smuggle people into Elysium. Elysium Defense Secretary Delacourt is in charge of preventing illegal entry to Elysium. She orders hired killer Kruger to shoot down Spider's space shuttles. Elysium President Patel reprimands Delacourt for her unorthodox methods, threatening to terminate her position for any more unauthorized actions. Patel then discharges Kruger. In retaliation, Delacourt offers Armadyne Corp CEO John Carlyle defense contracts for life if he creates a program allowing Delacourt to conduct a coup and install herself as president. Carlyle writes the program and stores it inside his brain. On Earth, parolee Max Da Costa works for Armadyne Corp when he is accidentally exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. He is only given medication for the side effects and told he has five days to live after being fired by Carlyle. Max and his friend Julio approach Spider to bargain: if Max successfully steals information from an Elysium citizen, Spider will give Max a shuttle ride to Elysium to use a Med-Bay to cure his condition. Max demands that the target be his former boss, Carlyle. Due to his declining health, Spider provides Max with a powerful exoskeleton via surgery. Max and Julio shoot down Carlyle's shuttle to Elysium; Carlyle is fatally injured in a shootout against his security robots. Max and Julio successfully extract the program from his brain, but the data becomes unexpectedly scrambled, locked behind a security program. Delacourt sends Kruger and a black ops team to retrieve it. Kruger kills Julio, but an injured Max escapes with the copy of the program, while Carlyle's death destroys any possibility of further retrieval from his brain. Max seeks help from his childhood friend and nurse, Frey, whose daughter has leukemia. After she patches him up, Max goes to Spider. He realizes that the data in Max's head is a program that can reboot the entire Elysium mainframe. Delacourt locks down all flights up to Elysium, leaving Spider unable to take Max. Max angrily leaves, though not before Spider discreetly places a tracking device on him. After Kruger kidnaps Frey and her daughter, Max approaches him and offers him the data for the use of a Med-Bay. Kruger accepts, and Delacourt lifts the lockdown so the group can travel to Elysium. During the flight, Kruger and Max fight over the data, and a grenade explodes in Kruger's face, damaging the ship. The ship then crashes on Elysium; Max is arrested and taken to Delacourt, who orders a team to extract the data. Max escapes and heads to the armory to save Frey, who has been turned over to Kruger's men. Kruger is revived by a Med-Bay and confronted by Delacourt, whom he fatally wounds. He orders his men to start killing the politicians on the station while he dons a more advanced exoskeleton suit to hunt down Max, planning to initiate the protocol himself. Spider lands on Elysium and finds Max. Max wants Spider to have his men protect Frey and get her daughter to a Med-Bay to be healed. They reach the computer core, where they are confronted by Kruger. Max and Kruger engage in combat, which ends with Max managing to disable Kruger's connection to his suit; Kruger responds by attempting to kill them both with a grenade, but Max throws him over the ledge as the grenade explodes, killing Kruger. Spider connects Max to the computer, but the data transfer will kill Max if he downloads it. Max says his goodbyes to Frey and initiates the download, killing him. The Elysium computer reboots, allowing Frey to heal her daughter. The robot police arrive but cannot arrest Spider, as everyone on Earth is now considered a citizen of Elysium. Medical shuttles loaded with Med-Bays are dispatched to Earth to heal everyone who needs help.

The film opens on June 17, 2010 at the China Railway Seventh Group (CREC-7) compound in Kolwezi, located in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congolese government has a contract with the Chinese to develop their national infrastructure in exchange for access to the country's mineral rights, so CREC is attempting to rebuild a road that spans 296 kilometers (184 miles) from Kolwezi to the province's capital, Lubumbashi. The road had been built by the Belgians in 1954 and is in ruins because of a lack of maintenance after the Belgians left the continent during the 1960s Decolonisation of Africa. CREC plans to stay for 20 years after its completion to ensure that the road is being maintained. The two men who primarily deal with this task are CREC's head of logistics, Chinese expatriate Lao Yang and his translator, Eddy, also called "Eternal Dragon", a native from Kinshasa who is fluent in Mandarin, French and Swahili. The Chinese have a contract with the government requiring the laborers to be Congolese natives, but Lao struggles to deal with the locals due to cultural differences: the locals do not take their work seriously and steal from the company often. Needing two truckloads of a specific gravel, Lao and Eddy travel to the nearby gravel pit to pick up the gravel. On the way, Lao lectures Eddy that he does not know anything about the history of his own country because he claims that the railroad's bridge was built twenty years later than it was. Eddy argues that the country is "too vast". Once they arrive at the gravel pit, Lao is baffled to see that the workers are standing around aimlessly and the trucks they were told to pick up are empty. The two men wait for the manager of the gravel company to arrive so the workers can get direction on what to do. The manager stalls them before explaining that they will get the gravel loaded later. With nothing left to do, the men return to the compound without their gravel. On July 1, 2010, soon after the country's 50th anniversary of independence from Belgian rule, Lao explains that they have had to start measuring their gasoline because the workers have been siphoning it. Two Chinese supervisors discuss their frustrations with the local workers: the locals are not motivated to work and frequently quit, do not listen to directions and leave for the day before their work has been completed. They are also frustrated with the thievery and discuss how they wish they could pay the police to beat up thieves in front of the workers to send a message. After the workers stop what they are doing to yell at a passing vehicle for not waiting long enough to pass one of the CREC vehicles, the laborers make fun of the supervisor's attempt to communicate with them. One of the Chinese supervisors says "I feel sorry for them. But sometimes I also hate them." After a truckload of pipes are delivered to the job site, a count reveals that there are only 21 when there should be 38. Eddy explains in broken English to the truck's driver, a Kenyan, that he needs to make sure the correct number of pipes are loaded into the truck before delivery, and realizes that his sunglasses have been stolen from the vehicle. Lao asks Eddy if he contacted the manager of the gravel company, and Eddy claims that he has, but he will not answer the phone in the morning. Lao points out that it is afternoon and tells Eddy to keep trying, but Eddy claims that it will not do any good because he will not pick up the phone. Lao, growing increasingly frustrated with the impossibility of accomplishing what should be simple tasks, says "It's all so tiresome." Attempting to make some progress on the infrastructure, Lao attempts to buy some rocks for wall construction instead of the gravel, but the quarry refuses, afraid that the Chinese will start making their own gravel and put them out of business. After being unable to agree on a price for the rocks, they leave empty-handed. Lao, increasingly impatient with the gravel company's continued delays, goes to a competitor and places an order for some gravel. Later, the locals laugh about being compared to apes by their Chinese employers and claim that the Chinese "look like pigs". CREC, blaming Lao for the delays, grows impatient and tells him that they need the gravel by the end of the month. Before going to pick up the gravel, Lao realizes that the dump truck, driven irresponsibly by the locals, has been damaged and the tailgate now will not close properly. Lao fears that even if they brace it, the truck will lose the gravel on the way back. On the way to the quarry, Lao realizes that the area's railroad, built in the 1930s by the Belgians, is now abandoned and in disrepair. Lao is irritated by this because even China did not have such a sophisticated rail system at that time, and the Congolese squandered the valuable infrastructure. At the quarry, they weld the tailgate shut so the gravel can be transported to the job site. Lao attempts to measure the gravel with a tape measure, but it is broken. Eddy claims that it is because the tape measure was made in China. The locals attempt to fill the truck to the brim, but Lao warns them that the tires will explode if they load it too heavy and forces them to remove some of the gravel. Lao laments that $2.1 billion has been spent in the Congo so far and the Chinese have yet to get any return on their investment. Lao claims that the Congolese have no sense of time and it's hard to adapt to life there. The gravel is delivered back to the job site and construction on the road can finally begin. That night, a local radio announcer proclaims that it is only a matter of time before the Chinese, too, give up on the country and wonders who will be next to exploit their resources. The next day, a ceremony is held to commemorate the building of the road, but the ceremony is rapidly concluded so the locals can watch the World Cup. In late July, Lao and Eddy sit down and talk while on break. Lao laments about how he still has to get rocks for wall construction, an undertaking he has been working on for six months and has made no progress on. Lao tells an impassive Eddy that it will take generations to change the culture of the Congo. The film concludes with a voice-over from Lao about the native Congolese: "On payday, the men go crazy. Two days later, they come asking to loan them money. They don't hold their drink that well, they just like drinking. They stand at the bar drinking a beer and then start shaking their behinds. It's wonderful."

In the 23rd century, after more than a year's journey, the United Planets starship C-57D arrives at the distant planet Altair IV to determine the fate of the ship Bellerophon, sent there 20 years before. Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the original expedition's scientists, warns the ship not to land for safety reasons, but Commander John J. Adams ignores his warning. Adams and Lieutenants Jerry Farman and "Doc" Ostrow are met by Robby the Robot, who transports them to Morbius' residence. Morbius describes how all other members of their expedition had been killed, one by one, by an unseen "planetary force", with the Bellerophon being vaporized as the last survivors tried to escape. Only Morbius, his wife (who, Morbius claims, later died of natural causes), and their daughter Altaira were somehow immune. Morbius offers to help the starship return home, but Adams says he must receive further instructions from Earth. The next day, Adams finds Farman kissing Altaira. Furious, he rebukes Farman and criticizes Altaira for wearing revealing clothing. That night, an invisible intruder sabotages communications equipment aboard the starship. The next morning, Adams and Ostrow go to Morbius' residence to discuss the intrusion. While waiting, Adams happens upon Altaira swimming. After she dons a new, less revealing dress, Adams apologizes for his behavior toward her, and they kiss. They are suddenly attacked by Altaira's pet tiger, and Adams is forced to disintegrate it with his blaster. Morbius appears and tells Adams and Ostrow that he has been studying artifacts of the Krell, a highly advanced race that mysteriously perished in a single night 200,000 years before. One such device enhances the intellect, which Morbius had used. He barely survived, but his intellectual capacity had doubled. Another is a vast 8,000-cubic-mile (33,000 km 3) underground machine, still functioning, powered by 9,208 thermonuclear reactors. Adams tells Morbius he must share these discoveries with Earth, but Morbius refuses, saying, "Humanity is not yet ready to receive such limitless power." Farman erects a force field fence around the starship, but the unseen intruder easily passes through and brutally murders Chief Engineer Quinn, who was repairing the damaged communications equipment. Morbius warns Adams of his premonition of further deadly attacks. That night, the intruder is detected approaching. Its outline and features become visible when it enters the force field and blasters are fired at it, to little effect. The thing kills Farman and two other crewmen. When Morbius is awakened by Altaira's screams, the creature suddenly vanishes. Adams tries to persuade Altaira to leave. Ostrow sneaks away and uses the Krell intellect enhancer, but is fatally injured. Before dying, he informs Adams that the underground machine's purpose was to create anything by mere thought, anywhere on the planet. However, he tells Adams the Krell forgot one thing: "Monsters from the id." The machine gave the Krell's own subconscious desires free rein with unlimited power, causing their own extinction. Adams deduces that Morbius's subconscious created the thing that both killed the original expedition members and attacked his crewmen; Morbius refuses to believe him. Altaira tells Morbius that she is leaving Altair IV with Adams. Robby detects the creature approaching; Morbius commands Robby to kill it, but the robot knows it is Morbius and shuts down, being programmed to never kill a human. Adams, Altaira, and Morbius hide in the Krell laboratory, but the creature melts its way through the thick doors. Morbius finally accepts the truth and confronts and disowns his other self, but is fatally injured by the creature as it vanishes. Before he dies, he has Adams activate a planetary self-destruct system, warning them to be far away in deep space. At a safe distance, Adams, Altaira, Robby, and the surviving crew witness the obliteration of Altair IV. Adams reassures Altaira that in about a million years, the human race will stand where the Krell did. They embrace as C-57D heads back to Earth.

The cast of the 1980s space-adventure series Galaxy Quest attend fan conventions and make trivial promotional appearances. Though the series' vain former star, Jason Nesmith, thrives on the attention, his co-stars Gwen DeMarco, Alexander Dane, Fred Kwan, and Tommy Webber resent him and their stalled careers. At a convention, a group calling themselves Thermians approaches Jason for help. Thinking they want him for a promotional appearance, he agrees. Jason also overhears two attendees mocking him and the fans. Despondent, he brusquely dismisses other fans, including Brandon, before going home to drink and watch reruns of the series. The next morning, when the Thermians pick him up, a hungover Jason does not grasp that they are actual aliens who have transported him to a working re-creation of the Galaxy Quest starship, the NSEA Protector. Jason believes he is on a set, and performs in character as he confronts the Thermians' enemy, Sarris, who demands the "Omega 13", a secret super weapon with unknown capabilities mentioned but never used in the show's finale. Giving perfunctory orders, Jason fires on and temporarily defeats Sarris. After the grateful Thermians transport him back to Earth, Jason realizes the experience was real and attempts to convince the other cast members. In his excitement, Jason bumps into Brandon again, accidentally swapping Brandon's toy communicator with a real one Jason acquired from the Thermians. When one of the Thermians, Laliari, seeks Jason's help again, the cast joins him, along with the convention emcee, Guy, who had played an ill-fated extra in one episode. Aboard the Protector, the cast learn that the Thermians, who possess no concept of fiction, believe the episodes of Galaxy Quest are true "historical documents". Inspired by the crew's adventures, they have based their society on the virtues espoused by the show. Sarris returns and demands the Omega 13 device. He attacks the Protector again, and the ship barely escapes through a magnetic minefield. However, the ship's power source, a beryllium sphere, is severely damaged. The humans travel to a nearby planet and take a replacement sphere from ferocious, childlike alien miners. Jason is temporarily left behind and fends off a rock creature until Fred beams him up. Back on the Protector, the crew discovers that Sarris has seized the ship. After Jason confesses they are just actors, Sarris forces him to explain the truth to the disillusioned Thermian leader, Mathesar. Sarris activates the Protector' s self-destruct mechanism and returns to his ship. Jason and Gwen contact Brandon via the swapped communicator, and Brandon and his superfan friends guide them to abort the self-destruct sequence. Brandon also explains that the Omega 13 is either a universe-destroying bomb or a "matter re-arranger" that sends the user 13 seconds back in time. Meanwhile, Alexander leads a Thermian revolt against Sarris' forces and takes back control of the Protector. With renewed confidence, the crew challenges Sarris and draws his ship into the magnetic minefield, destroying it. As they return to Earth, Sarris, who narrowly escaped his ship's destruction, ambushes them on the bridge and fatally wounds several crew members. Jason activates the Omega 13, which sends everyone 13 seconds back in time, allowing Jason and Mathesar to thwart Sarris before he attacks. The Protector' s bridge separates from the main vessel to return the humans to Earth, while the main vessel carries the Thermians into interstellar space. The Protector bridge crashes into the Galaxy Quest convention, and the dazed cast emerges to the cheers of their fans. Sarris awakens and levels his gun at the cast, but Jason shoots and destroys him. The crowd assumes it was all a display of special effects and cheers wildly. Jason, with newfound humility, invites his co-stars to share the stage with him and the crew basks in their newfound glory. Sometime later, Galaxy Quest is revived as a sequel series, Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues, with the cast reprising their roles alongside Guy and Laliari as new cast members.

In 2021, society is driven by a virtual Internet, which has created a degenerative effect called "nerve attenuation syndrome" or NAS. Megacorporations control much of the world, intensifying the class hostility already created by NAS. Johnny is a "mnemonic courier" who discreetly transports sensitive data for corporations in a storage device implanted in his brain at the cost of his childhood memories. His current job is for a group of scientists in Beijing. Johnny initially balks when he learns the data exceeds his memory capacity even with compression, but he agrees given the large fee will cover the cost of the operation to remove the device. Johnny keeps it secret that he is overloaded; he must have the data extracted within a few days or suffer fatal brain damage and corrupt the data. The scientists encrypt the data with three random images from a television feed. As they transmit these images to the receiver in Newark, New Jersey, they are attacked and killed by yakuza led by Shinji, who wields a laser whip. Johnny battles the yakuza, grabs a fragment of the encryption key images, and escapes. Shinji reports his failure to his superior, Takahashi. Their conversation reveals the yakuza are working on behalf of Pharmakom, a megacorporation. Johnny witnesses brief projections of a female artificial intelligence who attempts to aid him, but he dismisses her. The AI is later identified as Anna Kalmann, Pharmakom's former CEO and founder who became an AI upon her death. In Newark, Johnny meets with his handler Ralfi, who betrays him. Johnny is rescued from the yakuza by Jane, a cybernetically-enhanced bodyguard; members of the LoTeks, an anti-establishment group; and the LoTeks' leader, J-Bone. Ralfi is sliced into pieces when he gets in Shinji's way. Jane takes Johnny to Spider, the doctor who installed Jane's implants. At a clinic, Spider reveals his medical charity was intended to receive the Beijing scientists' data, which is a stolen cure for NAS. Spider claims Pharmakom refuses to release the cure because they are profiting off mitigation treatments. The portion of the encryption images Johnny took plus the piece Spider received are insufficient to decrypt Johnny's mind, so Spider suggests they see Jones at the LoTeks' base. Suddenly, an assassin hired by Takahashi known as "The Street Preacher" attacks them, killing Spider as Johnny and Jane escape. The two reach the LoTek base and learn from J-Bone that Jones is a dolphin once used by the Navy that can help decrypt Johnny's payload. As they start the procedure, Shinji and the yakuza attack the base. Takahashi appears and confronts Johnny, holding him at gunpoint. At the same time, Anna appears and confirms that Pharmakom already had a cure for NAS before Takahashi's young daughter died from the condition eight months prior; Anna is helping out of disgust with her company's actions. Shinji, in a surprise betrayal, shoots Takahashi. Johnny and Shinji fight, culminating with Johnny killing Shinji. Before he dies, Takahashi has a change of heart and turns over a portion of the encryption key to Johnny. This still is not enough to fully decrypt the data. J-Bone tells Johnny that he will need to hack his own mind with Jones' help. Johnny, Jane, J-Bone and the LoTeks defeat the remaining forces sent after them. The Street Preacher arrives, and, after a fight, is electrocuted to death by Johnny and Jane. The second attempt starts, and aided by Anna, Johnny decrypts the data and simultaneously recovers his childhood memories which reveals that Anna is his mother. As J-Bone transmits the NAS cure information across the internet via pirate broadcasts, Johnny and Jane watch from afar as the Pharmakom headquarters goes up in flames. In celebration, J-Bone disposes of the Street Preacher's burnt corpse by tossing it into the waters of Newark.

The film centres on a group of office colleagues in downtown Calgary, Alberta, who bet a month's salary on who can last the longest without going outside by using the system of covered walkways that connect the buildings. The film takes place over one lunch hour on day 24 of the month-long competition. Things start to become complicated as the office prepares for the company founder's retirement party. The film's title is derived from a particular form of suicide where one smashes the (non-openable) window of one's high-rise office and then jumps through. In the movie, one of the characters has accumulated a 2-litre pop bottle full of marbles in the hopes of breaking his window. The dark joke for this is referenced in the film : "a 15 bus takes you downtown, a bottle of marbles takes you way downtown."

In the early 1980s, Ukrainian-American restaurateur Yuri Orlov witnesses a gunfight amongst the Russian mafia in his area of Brighton Beach. The incident inspires him to begin trafficking arms for personal profit. Through a contact at his father's synagogue, he acquires an Uzi and makes his first sale, eventually convincing his reluctant younger brother Vitaly to become his partner in crime. The two brothers get their big break with the Lebanese Civil War following the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings. As he prospers financially, Yuri increasingly witnesses his activities directly enabling atrocities and war crimes, and is relentlessly pursued by Jack Valentine of Interpol; Valentine represents a unique and persistent threat to Yuri's business because he has a particularly strong moral compass and cannot be bribed or coerced into backing down. Meanwhile, an arms deal with a Colombian drug lord ends with the brothers being forcefully paid off with a large shipment of cocaine, to which Vitaly soon develops a severe addiction. Yuri checks him into a rehabilitation center and continues building his empire in his absence. He uses his profits to seduce and marry a supermodel named Ava Fontaine. She later gives birth to their son Nikolai. Upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Yuri flies to Ukraine and meets his uncle Dmitri, a Soviet general who is overseeing the distribution of the assets of the Soviet Armed Forces. As he illegally supplies Yuri and rebuffs his competition, Dmitri is killed in a car bombing orchestrated by rival arms dealer Simeon Weisz. Yuri then expands his empire to Africa and starts doing business with Liberian dictator André Baptiste. As a "gift" to honor their alliance, Baptiste captures Weisz and offers Yuri a chance to execute him; Yuri refuses, but Baptiste puts the gun into his hand and pulls the trigger. Yuri is disturbed by Baptiste's appetite for bloodshed, including his use of child soldiers, but remains undeterred from selling weapons and ammunition to him. Valentine tells Ava that her husband is an arms trafficker, prompting her to confront him. In response, Yuri starts trading timber and oil, but quickly becomes frustrated with the lower profits of legitimate work. In 2000, he returns to crime after Baptiste visits him in person and offers him the largest payday of his career: a stash of blood diamonds. Suspicious of his behavior, Ava tails Yuri, unaware that Interpol is tracking her, and discovers the shipping container that holds his arms-dealing office. Yuri takes Vitaly to Africa to help him during a deal with a Sierra Leonean militia, which is allied with Baptiste and is preparing to destroy a refugee camp. There, Vitaly watches as a woman and a child are hacked to death by Baptiste's fighters, and subsequently pleads with Yuri to cancel the sale. Yuri refuses, stating that the sale's impact on the refugees is not their concern and that Baptiste's men would kill them if they called off the deal. Unable to quell his distress, Vitaly steals a pair of grenades and destroys a truck full of weapons, also killing Baptiste's son, before he is gunned down by the Sierra Leonean militants. Yuri is spared and receives half of the diamonds in exchange for the remaining truckload. He pays a Liberian doctor to remove the bullets from Vitaly's body and forge a death certificate, but a missed bullet is found by U.S. customs officials, who promptly arrest Yuri. Ava takes Nikolai and leaves Yuri, while his family disowns him. Valentine detains Yuri in anticipation of his trial and conviction, but Yuri, while dejected, is unfazed. He tells Valentine that a high-ranking military officer will soon knock on the door and insist on his release. He explains that while he is a criminal, he sometimes serves the interests of the U.S. government by covertly arming the enemies of its enemies. Valentine hears a knock at the door, looks at Yuri for a moment, and rebukes him. Yuri is released and returns to the illegal arms trade. The film concludes with a statement that the world's largest arms suppliers—the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and France—are also the Permanent Five of the United Nations Security Council.

In 2008, an investment bank begins laying off a large number of employees, among them Eric Dale, the head of risk management. Dale's attempts to speak about the implications of a model he is working on are ignored. On his way out, he gives Peter Sullivan, an analyst in his department, a flash drive containing his work, warning him to "be careful". Sullivan, intrigued, works after hours to complete Dale's model. Sullivan discovers that the assumptions underpinning the firm's risk profile are wrong; historical volatility levels in MBSs are being exceeded, so the firm's position in those assets is over-leveraged and the debt incurred from those over-leveraged assets could bankrupt the company. Sullivan calls his colleague, junior analyst Seth Bregman, to return to work with the head of credit trading, Will Emerson. Emerson, in turn, summons Sam Rogers, his boss, after reviewing Sullivan's findings. They are unable to contact Dale because his company phone has been disabled. Sullivan and Bregman go out to find Dale, while Rogers and Emerson inform the company's senior management of the situation. A meeting of division head Jared Cohen, CRMO Sarah Robertson, and other senior executives concludes that Sullivan's findings are accurate, and CEO John Tuld is called. Upon Tuld's arrival, and after Sullivan explains the problem, Rogers, Cohen, and Tuld spar regarding a course of action: Cohen's plan, favored by Tuld, is a fire sale of the problematic assets. Rogers disagrees, pointing out that the sale will damage the firm's relationships and reputation within the industry and cause major instability in the markets. Tuld stresses that his desire to avoid the firm's bankruptcy is worth that cost. After the meeting with Tuld, Emerson learns from Dale's wife that he has returned home. Emerson travels to Dale's residence with Bregman and attempts to persuade him to return to the firm, but he refuses. During the drive back, Bregman asks whether he will lose his job; Emerson responds that he likely will but, philosophizing about the nature of financial markets, tells him not to lose faith and that his work is necessary. Tuld tells Robertson that he will assign the blame to her in front of the traders and the board of directors; Robertson argues that she warned Tuld and Cohen about the situation over a year ago and that both acknowledged the risks, but she fails to persuade Tuld. Meanwhile, Dale is bribed and forced into cooperating with Cohen's plan, with the firm threatening to cut his benefits and severance if he refuses. He spends the day commiserating with Robertson. Despite his misgivings, Rogers rallies his traders and informs them of the fire sale. He acknowledges the damage likely to be done to their reputations and careers but tells them that they will receive seven-figure bonuses if most of the traders' assigned assets are sold by day's end. As trading progresses, the firm elicits suspicion and, eventually, anger from its counterparties and incurs heavy losses, but it manages to sell off most of the bad assets. Another round of layoffs begins; upon learning he was spared, Rogers confronts Tuld and submits his resignation. Tuld dismisses Rogers' view of the situation by recalling past economic crises, arguing that such events always happen and that Rogers should not feel guilty for acting in his and the firm's interests. Tuld asks Rogers to stay on for two more years, and Rogers reluctantly accepts, citing his personal financial need. Tuld also informs Rogers that Sullivan will be promoted.

In the near future, Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer; he analyzes his clients' competitors' technology and recreates it with improvements. To protect his clients' intellectual property and himself, Jennings undergoes memory wipes to remove knowledge of his engineering with aid of his friend Shorty. Jennings is contacted by his college roommate James Rethrick, the CEO of technology company Allcom. Rethrick offers Jennings a lengthy three-year job, during which he will be required to stay on Allcom's campus, in exchange for company stock. Jennings is hesitant but agrees. After being injected with the memory marker, Jennings is given a tour of the campus, where he meets and flirts with biologist Dr. Rachel Porter. Rethrick then introduces Jennings to his work partner, physicist William Dekker. Three years later, Jennings wakes from the memory wipe and is congratulated by Rethrick. Jennings finds that the Allcom stock he earned is valued at over US$92 million, but when he goes to see his lawyer to get the funds, he discovers that he had given all the stock away just weeks ago. Further, he is given an envelope claiming to be his possessions on entering Allcom, but it contains a random assortment of items. Confused, Jennings soon finds himself detained by the FBI. Agent Dodge accuses Jennings of having access to classified government designs that had been taken by Dekker, who is now dead. Jennings cannot answer due to the memory wipe, but finds a means to escape using the items in the envelope. As he evades the FBI, Rethrick's right-hand-man John Wolfe sees Jennings walking away and warns Rethrick they have a problem. Jennings meets with Shorty to try to figure out what happened, but then sees a lottery number result on a television, the numbers matching those on a fortune cookie message in the envelope. He realizes that he must have built a machine at Allcom to see into the future, planting items in that envelope to help fix things. At Allcom, Rethrick tries to use Jennings' machine, but instead finds that it was jury-rigged to go offline after Jennings had left. Rethrick studies Jennings' habits while at Allcom and discovers that he became romantically involved with Porter and left a secret message to meet her at a cafe later that day. Rethrick sends a body double to try to coerce Jennings to turn over the envelope, but the real Porter shows up and rescues Jennings. The two elude the FBI and Rethrick's men. While hiding, they find that the stamps on the envelopes contain microdot images taken from the device, showing newspaper headlines from the future that while Allcom became incredibly successful with the device, it led to crises on the stock markets, international political strife, a pandemic and the United States launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike. They agree that the machine must be destroyed. Using the last items in the envelope, Jennings and Porter gain access to Allcom and the machine, while separately the FBI have started to investigate Allcom. Jennings discovers the circuit he rigged and fixes it, while booby-trapping the machine to be destroyed in a few minutes. He uses the machine one last time to see himself being shot at by an FBI agent in the catwalks above the machine. Rethrick, Wolfe, and other men arrive, and Jennings and Porter escape to the catwalks. Wolfe tries to use the machine to help track Jennings, while Rethrick corners the pair on the catwalk. FBI agents storm the lab, and one appears on the catwalk, the same tableau that Jennings had seen. As the FBI fires, a watch from the envelope beeps, and Jennings dodges in time for the bullet to fatally hit Rethrick. Wolfe is killed as Jennings' booby-trap goes off and destroys the machine. After the chaos dies down and the FBI begin a full investigation, Agent Dodge finds the watch Jennings had used, but consequently hides it and declares him dead. Elsewhere, Jennings, Porter, and Shorty have moved to the countryside. Shorty was able to use his influence to rescue the cage of a pair of red-rumped parrots Porter had been raising at Allcom. Recalling the fortune cookie message from the envelope, Jennings looks in the cage and finds a lottery ticket for the winning jackpot of US$90 million.