Dieter and Margot Menliff, in an unhappy marriage, visit an old castle that Margot has just inherited. When they arrive, Dieter explores the basement, while Margot examines the rest of the castle. Dieter sees something in the cellar that causes him to drop his keys and flee. Margot has a vision in a dusty mirror. Halfway through the film, a second couple, Eva Ziehnagel and Gregor Grause, is introduced.

Set in 1946, the plot depicts the last log driving in the Tagus from Peralejos de las Truchas to Aranjuez, focusing on the plight of Roy Shannon, an Irishman joining a group of humble gancheros (log drivers) led by El Americano.

Chatur Ramalingam, a successful vice-president, reminds his old college rivals Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi of a bet he made ten years earlier with their classmate, friend, and Chatur's nemesis, Ranchoddas "Rancho" Shamaldas Chanchad. Chatur has returned to India to close a deal with famous inventor Phunsukh Wangdu. The trio head to Shimla to find Rancho, recalling their days at the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE) in Delhi. At ICE, Rancho (from Shimla) was an unconventional student passionate about learning. He often clashed with the strict director, Dr. Viru "Virus" Sahastrabuddhe, who valued rote discipline over curiosity. When a classmate, Joy Lobo, is denied graduation for missing a project deadline (which Joy had missed due to his father suffering a stroke) and takes his own life, Rancho blames Virus's pressure-filled system. Virus dismisses him and later threatens to expel Farhan and Raju for associating with Rancho. That night, the trio visit Farhan and Raju's homes and witness the hardships driving each friend's choices. After leaving Raju's house, they accidentally crash Virus's daughter Mona's wedding reception, where they meet Mona's sister Pia. Virus warns Farhan and Raju to stay away from Rancho, so Raju moves in with Chatur, a competitive student who memorises textbooks without understanding. When Chatur prepares a Hindi speech for Virus and the Education Minister, Rancho and Farhan secretly replace words with obscene phrases, humiliating Chatur and sparking a ten-year challenge to see who will succeed in life. Before the semester exams, Raju's father suffers a stroke. Rancho and Pia rush him to the hospital, saving his life. In the subsequent semester exams, Farhan and Raju are at the bottom of the class while Rancho shockingly tops the class. This continues for the next four years. During a speech, Virus mockingly bets that Farhan and Raju will never get jobs. That night Rancho helps his friends face their fears—encouraging Farhan to pursue photography and Raju to gain confidence. They promise to act on their dreams if Rancho confesses his love to Pia. Drunk and mischievous, they sneak into Virus's home. Rancho professes his feelings to Pia while Raju urinates on Virus's letterbox. When Raju is caught, Virus demands he betray Rancho or be expelled. Unable to choose, Raju attempts suicide and is hospitalised but survives. Moved, Virus reinstates him. Later, Raju earns a job offer, and Farhan persuades his father to let him become a photographer. Determined to humiliate Rancho's friends, Virus sets an impossibly hard exam so Raju will fail and lose his job. With Pia's help, Rancho and Farhan steal the paper, but Raju refuses to cheat. They are caught and expelled. Subsequently, Pia confronts her father, revealing that her brother's death was actually a suicide, rather than from a train accident, which was caused by Virus's academic pressure, forcing him to pursue engineering while he wanted to study literature and become a writer, by showing a suicide note written by him. That night, a storm cuts off power as Mona goes into labour. Rancho organises an emergency delivery using college equipment while Pia guides him over video. The baby survives, and a grateful Virus revokes their expulsion and gifts Rancho his prized Space Pen—signifying respect. Soon after graduation, Rancho disappears. In the present, Farhan, Raju, and Chatur arrive in Shimla and find Rancho's house. They meet the real Ranchoddas, a wealthy man's son, who tells them that the "Rancho" they knew was actually Chhote, the gardener's gifted child who studied under Ranchoddas's name to earn a degree for him. He gives them Chhote's address in Ladakh. On the way, they crash Pia's wedding in Manali and convince her to leave her fiancé Suhas Tandon and reunite with Rancho. In Ladakh, they find Chhote teaching at a school he built for poor children, focusing on creativity instead of competition. He reunites with Farhan and Raju and agrees to marry Pia. When Chatur arrives for a business deal, he mocks Chhote for being just a teacher and snatches the Space Pen from him, until he learns that Chhote is actually Phunsukh Wangdu, the inventor he came to meet. A flabbergasted Chatur accepts defeat as the friends run away from him laughing.

Returning home with his mother Vinn from a trip to Berlin, Michael Gant, the son of Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) director Robert Gant, is kidnapped and his security detail is nearly wiped out by the attacker, ex-DIA agent Sever. FBI agent Jeremiah Ecks left the agency after his wife Rayne was killed in a car bombing. His old boss, Julio Martin, asks him to investigate the Gant case. He claims that Vinn is still alive and he will give Ecks the information on her whereabouts if he helps take down Sever. Ecks agrees and discovers Sever is an orphaned Chinese girl the DIA adopted to train as a covert operative and assassin with " no fear, no conscience, and no morality. " Meanwhile, Robert Gant executes the only survivor of his son's security detail. He then orders his elite agents, led by A. J. Ross, to pursue Sever and rescue Michael. Ecks joins Martin and RCMP agent Harry Lee in Vancouver, where Sever is hiding out. Ecks learns that Gant stole an experimental weapon codenamed Softkill, a nanorobot which operates in the human circulatory system and can cause heart attacks at will. Gant had implanted Softkill in Michael in order to smuggle it into the United States. Ross and his men surround Sever in a shopping plaza, but she wipes out Ross's forces in a lengthy gun battle. Sever shoots Martin, and Ecks pursues Sever, climaxing with a fight that's cut off when Ross starts shooting at them with an M60 machine gun, giving Sever a chance to escape. Ecks is arrested by the Vancouver Police Department under the pretense that he shot Martin. While being transported to jail, his convoy is attacked by Sever, who frees Ecks. After a lengthy car chase, Sever throws a piece of paper at Ecks and tells him to ask Gant about his wife. Ecks meets Rayne at an aquarium and it's revealed that her "death" was orchestrated by Gant. Rayne ended up believing Ecks had died while he believed that she had. Rayne then married Gant under the name Vinn. It ends up that Gant had Sever's family killed; it was initially believed that kidnapping Michael was Sever's revenge. However, Rayne reveals that Michael is actually Ecks' son, and Sever's kidnapping was for his protection. Ecks, Rayne, and Sever go to Sever's underground bunker in an abandoned trainyard, where Rayne is reunited with Michael. Gant and Ross arrive with an army of heavily armed DIA agents, and a pitched battle ensues. Ecks and Sever eventually gain the upper hand and Sever kills Ross in a fight in the bunker. Gant tries to retrieve the Softkill in Michael's arm but is surprised to find it's not there. Sever kills Gant using a Softkill-loaded bullet and escapes as the police arrive. The film concludes with Ecks and Sever looking over the sea and Ecks thanking Sever for reuniting him with his family.

Inspired by his longtime love of drawing, and hoping to meet girls, Jerome enrolls at the Strathmore School of Art. His roommates are aspiring filmmaker Vince and closeted-gay fashion major Matthew. Jerome looks for love amongst the female students, but is unsuccessful until he falls for art model Audrey, the daughter of a famous pop artist. Jerome forms a friendship with classmate and perennial loser Bardo, a four-time dropout, who guides him through the college scene and introduces him to Jimmy, a Strathmore graduate who is now a failed artist and belligerent drunk. As he learns how the art world really works, Jerome finds that he must adapt his vision to reality. He slowly loses his idealism at art school and finds himself in competition with a mysterious student named Jonah for both Audrey's affection and artistic recognition. At the same time, a serial killer known as the Strathmore Strangler is on the loose near the campus, confounding the police and inspiring Vince to create a documentary about the murders. In a wild attempt to win a prestigious art competition, Jerome asks for, and gets, Jimmy's paintings, which unbeknownst to him, are portraits of the Strangler's victims. Accidentally dropping a lit cigarette in Jimmy's apartment, he causes a fire that destroys the building, leaving Jimmy and all the other residents dead. The police arrest Jerome as the Strangler (who in fact was Jimmy). Audrey realizes Jerome is her true love and that she was stupid to be interested in Jonah, who turns out to be an undercover police officer with a wife and baby at home. Jerome is sent to prison, but his paintings, particularly one of Audrey, become prized by collectors. Vince scores a huge hit with his documentary about the Strangler called My Roommate: The Murderer. In prison, Jerome continues to paint and sells his works at high prices, not caring that people think he is the killer as it has brought him financial success and recognition. Audrey comes to visit him in prison, and they share a kiss through the protective glass.