In 1881, after his father's death, Louis Wain, the only male member and eldest of the Wain family, supports his five sisters and his mother as a part-time illustrator for The Illustrated London News under editor Sir William Ingram. Wain declines a full-time job to try composing music and playwriting; neither venture is successful. Louis hires Emily Richardson as governess for his sisters and they are attracted to each other, to the dismay of eldest sister Caroline. Louis takes the full-time position to keep Emily as governess. He takes the family and Emily to the theatre to see The Tempest, during which he has a recurring nightmare of drowning. Emily comforts him in the men's toilets, causing a scandal when a neighbour gossips about the incident. Caroline fires Emily that night but before she can leave, Louis professes his love and they begin a courtship. They marry in 1884, causing another scandal due to her being ten years his senior and of a lower class. Louis takes freelance artist work to continue supporting his mother and sisters. Emily is diagnosed with breast cancer. They take in a stray kitten - unusual for the time - which they name Peter. Louis' initially realistic paintings of Peter become more anthropomorphic as Emily's condition worsens. Financial pressure causes Sir William to cut Louis' workload, and he advises Louis spend the time with Emily. She encourages Louis to show his cat pictures to Sir William, who prints them to acclaim in the Christmas edition. Emily dies. Louis draws more cat pictures, creating whole cat societies. By 1891, Wain's cat pictures are enormously popular, featured on postcards and greeting cards, and changing the perception of cats as acceptable house pets. He hosts cat-themed events and is chairman of The National Cat Society. Unaware of the need to copyright his work, Wain does not profit from reproductions and the family remains in debt. Sister Marie becomes mentally unwell and the family is evicted. Sir William provides a property at a reduced rate. Marie is institutionalised and Peter dies, causing Wain's own mental health to deteriorate. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst sponsors Wain on a trip to New York in 1907, where Max Kase tells him people love his pictures. After some success in New York, in 1914 Caroline asks him to return to England. Marie and their mother die from influenza. Sir William dies of gout, and the family is evicted and moves into a smaller London flat. As Britain enters the First World War, Louis hits his head jumping off a bus and falls into coma, in which he sees a vision of 1999. He designs futuristic-themed cat toys. The toys are manufactured, but a German U-boat sinks the ship carrying the toys. Caroline dies in 1917, and Louis suffers a series of mental breakdowns. In 1924, his sisters commit him to the Springfield Mental Hospital. Mental institution inspector Dan Rider recognises Louis; he had drawn his dog's portrait. He campaigns, along with Wain's three remaining sisters, to raise money for a better facility for Louis that allows patients cats and outdoor access. The campaign gets an enormous response, as H.G. Wells and other prominent British figures assist. Louis is transferred to Bethlem Royal Hospital, where he has a cat companion. In 1930, he is admitted to Napsbury Hospital in London Colney. Louis takes his journal and a piece of Emily's scarf out to the painted countryside, where Emily had told him he would find her.

In Liverpool, England in 1960, art students and friends John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe have an altercation with a group of men outside a club, with Stu sustaining a head injury. Stu is a painter, and has joined John's rock-and-roll group the Beatles as their bass guitarist. The Beatles, their line-up comprising John, Stu, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best, travel by ship to Hamburg, Germany, and are introduced to the city's red-light district, the Reeperbahn. The band plays regularly at the Kaiserkeller club, and their sleeping quarters are the storeroom of the Bambi Kino, a small cinema. They meet German artist Klaus Voormann, and begin taking the drug Preludin to stay awake and play for long hours. Klaus brings his girlfriend, German photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to see the Beatles perform, and introduces her to Stu. The Beatles and Astrid go to Bar Enfer, where a drunk John begins yelling at Stu over Astrid, before being escorted out by Paul. Later, the Beatles pose for photographs taken by Astrid. A record producer from Polydor Records comes to the Kaiserkeller to see the Beatles perform, but when he arrives, Stu is on stage singing " Love Me Tender " to Astrid, and the producer leaves, unimpressed. Paul wants Stu out of the band, but John states that if Stu leaves, he leaves as well. The producer from Polydor returns to the Kaiserkeller and gives the Beatles the opportunity to perform on a record the following day. Stu says he is ill, so the other Beatles leave without him to attend the recording session, which sees them backing up singer Tony Sheridan. Astrid and Stu take photographs and have sex, and Klaus catches Stu and Astrid in bed together. Stu comes back to the Bambi Kino to find Ringo Starr, a drummer from another band, sleeping in his bunk bed. John remarks that he thought Stu had moved in "with the SS ", and informs Stu that the Beatles are now playing at the Top Ten Club. Stu chooses instead to focus on his paintings. John visits Astrid, who criticizes him for his anger and accuses him of being jealous of her relationship with Stu. The Beatles are suddenly deported when authorities discover that George is under the age of 18; Stu and Astrid bid each other goodbye. By December 1960, Stu wants to return to Hamburg, as he has not painted since he left. John thinks that Astrid was insinuating he has homosexual feelings towards Stu. By March 1961, George has turned 18, and the Beatles return to Hamburg, where Stu reunites with Astrid, who gives him a " mop top " haircut. Stu later tells John that he no longer wants to be in the band, and the two have a physical fight over Astrid. During a game of limbo at a club, Stu collapses in pain. A doctor suggests the incident is the result of a head injury. Stu proposes marriage to Astrid, and is accepted into a German art school. Stu and Astrid visit a beach with John and John's girlfriend Cynthia Powell; there, John expresses feelings for Astrid, but notes she fell in love with Stu. Stu and Astrid go to see the Beatles perform, with Paul having taken over as bassist, and the group bids the two farewell before leaving Hamburg. On 13 August 1961, Stu comes home to find Astrid and Klaus holding hands, watching the news about the Berlin Wall being erected. Enraged, Stu assaults Klaus and throws paint all over Astrid's photographs and darkroom. He later apologises to Astrid, stating that his behaviour was unlike himself. Astrid tells Stu that the Beatles will soon become famous, and that Stu will grow to resent her as a result, but Stu denies this. Stu collapses in pain and dies of a brain haemorrhage. The Beatles, with John, Paul and George now sporting mop-top hairstyles, come back to Hamburg, where Astrid informs John that Stu is dead. At the Beatles' next performance, John sings a verse from "Love Me Tender" before the group breaks into " Twist and Shout ". Astrid watches them perform before making her exit through the adoring crowd.

In 2005, Steve Lopez is a journalist working for the Los Angeles Times. He is divorced and now works for his ex-wife, Mary, an editor. A biking accident lands Lopez in a hospital. One day, he hears a violin being played beautifully. Investigating, he encounters Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless man with schizophrenia, who is playing a violin when Lopez introduces himself. During the conversation that follows, Lopez learns that Ayers once attended Juilliard. Curious as to how a former student of such a prestigious school ended up on the streets, Lopez contacts Juilliard but learns that no record of Ayers graduating from it exists. Though at first figuring a man with schizophrenia who's talented with a cello isn't worth his time, Lopez soon realizes that he has no better story to write about. Luckily, he soon learns that Ayers did attend Juilliard, but dropped out after two years. Finding Ayers the next day, Lopez says he wants to write about him. Ayers doesn't appear to be paying attention. Getting nowhere, Lopez finds and contacts Ayers' sister, who gives the columnist the information he needs: Ayers was once a child prodigy with the cello, until he began displaying symptoms of schizophrenia at Juilliard. Unable to handle the voices, Ayers dropped out and ended up on the streets due to the delusion that his sister wanted to kill him. Without a cello, he has resorted to playing a two-string violin. Lopez writes his article. One reader is so touched that she sends a cello for Ayers. Lopez brings it to him and Ayers shows he is just as proficient as with a violin. Unfortunately, his tendency to wander puts both Ayers and the cello in danger, so Lopez talks him into leaving it at a shelter, located in a neighborhood of homeless people. Ayers is later seen playing for the homeless. A concerned Lopez tries to get a doctor he knows to help. He also tries to talk Ayers into getting an apartment, but Ayers refuses. After seeing a reaction to music played at an opera house, Lopez persuades another friend, Graham, a cellist, to rehabilitate Ayers through music. The lessons go well, though Ayers is shown to be getting a little too attached to Lopez, much to the latter's annoyance. Lopez eventually talks Ayers into moving into an apartment by threatening to abandon him. Through Lopez's article, Ayers gains so much fame that he is given the chance to perform a recital. Sadly, he loses his temper, attacks Graham, and leaves. This convinces Lopez's doctor friend to get Ayers help. But when Ayers learns what Lopez is up to, he throws Lopez out of his apartment and threatens to kill him. While speaking with Mary, Lopez realizes that not only has he changed Ayers' life, but Ayers has changed his. Determined to make amends, Lopez brings Ayers' sister to L.A. for a visit. Ayers and Lopez make up. Later, while they all watch an orchestra, Lopez ponders how beneficial their friendship has been. Ayers still hears voices, but at least he no longer lives on the streets. In addition, Ayers has helped improve Lopez's relationship with his own family. It is revealed at the end that Ayers is still a member of the LAMP Community – a Los Angeles nonprofit organization that seeks to help people living with severe mental illness – and that Lopez is learning how to play the guitar.

The film is based on the true story of famed social psychologist Stanley Milgram, who in 1961 conducted a series of radical behavior experiments at Yale University that tested the willingness of ordinary humans to obey an authority figure while administering electric shocks to strangers. In the first half of the film, it is shown how the experiments are conducted, with nearly every test subject succumbing to the pressure of the circumstances and administering shocks to a stranger, despite the stranger begging him to stop. Between the experiments, it is shown how Milgram meets Alexandra (or Sasha), who will become his wife and mother of two children. The second half of the film shows how Milgram struggles with the public outcry about the ethics of the experiments and how his career advances as he becomes a professor in New York City and continues to study social interactions and social pressure in more benign experimental settings, including the small-world experiment, the lost-letter experiment, the street-corner (or gawking) experiment, the familiar stranger experiment, and various experiments that he makes his students carry out. Archive footage occurs frequently, either as recordings that Milgram watches or as a backdrop for entire scenes. Milgram's work continues until he dies from a heart attack at the age of 51. In the final scene, the street-corner experiment is repeated in the present day, with a cameo of the real-life Sasha Milgram. In a mid-credits scene, more archival footage is shown.

Howl explores the life and works of 20th-century American poet, Allen Ginsberg. Constructed in a nonlinear fashion, the film juxtaposes historical events with a variety of cinematic techniques. It reconstructs the early life of Ginsberg during the 1940s and 1950s. It also re-enacts Ginsberg's debut performance of " Howl " at the Six Gallery Reading on October 7, 1955 in black-and-white. The reading was the first important public manifestation of the Beat Generation and helped to herald the West Coast literary revolution that became known as the San Francisco Renaissance. In addition, parts of the poem are interpreted through animated sequences. Finally, these events are juxtaposed with color images of the 1957 obscenity trial of San Francisco poet and City Lights Bookstore co-founder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was the first person to publish "Howl" in Howl and Other Poems.

In Italy in 1978, Patrizia Reggiani is the office manager of her father's small trucking company. At a party, she meets Maurizio Gucci, a law student and heir to a 50% interest in the Gucci fashion house through his father Rodolfo. Patrizia aggressively pursues the awkward Maurizio, charming him into a romantic relationship. Rodolfo warns Maurizio that Patrizia is only after his wealth, and tells Maurizio that he will disinherit him if he marries Patrizia. Maurizio chooses Patrizia over his connection to Gucci, leaving the family. Patrizia and Maurizio marry, and he is hired by her father's trucking company. When Patrizia becomes pregnant, she considers her child to be an avenue for familial reconciliation, and lets that information slip to Maurizio's uncle Aldo, who is delighted and takes the couple under his wing. Aldo introduces Patrizia to his eccentric son Paolo, who aspires to be a designer within Gucci despite his apparent lack of talent. Aldo helps Maurizio, and a terminally ill Rodolfo, reconcile shortly before the latter's death. Rodolfo returns Maurizio to his will, but, before he dies, fails to sign the document bequeathing to him the 50% interest in Gucci shares, so Patrizia forges Rodolfo's signature on Rodolfo's updated testament. Patrizia devises a plot to obtain a controlling interest in Gucci by acquiring some of Aldo's and Paolo's shares (the other 50%). She clashes with Aldo over the firm's sale of cheap "fake" Gucci products on the black market, and consults Giuseppina "Pina", a psychic, for guidance on how to manipulate Maurizio, who has little interest in Gucci, into taking a more active role within the company. Paolo acquires proof that Aldo has been evading taxes in the United States. He gives the information to Patrizia in exchange for her promise that he be allowed to design his own product line. Aldo is arrested by the IRS and sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Patrizia lies to the Italian police and tells them that Paolo is not authorized to use the Gucci trademark, so they stop his fashion show by force. Patrizia and Maurizio ask Paolo to sell his shares to them, but he rebuffs their effort and cuts ties with them. Italian police search Maurizio, attempting to arrest him for forging Rodolfo's signature. He flees to Switzerland, where Maurizio meets his old friend Paola Franchi. After an argument between Maurizio and Patrizia, he is tired of his wife's influence on him and the company. He orders his wife and daughter to return to Italy, and begins an affair with Paola, which Pina senses. When Maurizio's business plans harm the company, he seeks assistance from investment firm Investcorp, through which he hatches a scheme to acquire shares of the company from a now-impoverished Paolo. Aldo returns from prison and immediately realizes what Paolo has done. When Investcorp offers to buy out Aldo, he refuses, until Maurizio reveals himself to be the deal's instigator. Dejected, Aldo sells the shares and cuts out communication with Maurizio. Patrizia attempts a reconciliation with Maurizio, but he bluntly ignores her. He soon asks her for a divorce through his longtime assistant, Domenico De Sole, a request that she refuses. Maurizio recruits up-and-coming designer Tom Ford to revitalize the company's image through a new line. His products are successful, but Maurizio has so thoroughly mismanaged the company that, by 1995, Investcorp's leaders feel compelled to buy him out, replacing him with Tom and Domenico. Patrizia eventually grows ever more furious with Maurizio. She asks Pina for help in assassinating him. Pina puts her in contact with two hitmen. A few days later, they shoot Maurizio to death in broad daylight outside his office. Patrizia takes her husband's last name while announcing herself in court, indicating that she still considers herself to be a Gucci, even if the law does not. Patrizia, Pina and the hitmen are sentenced to long prison terms following their arrests for murder. Aldo dies of prostate cancer in 1990, and Paolo dies in poverty shortly following the sale of his shares to Maurizio. Gucci is fully acquired by Investcorp, and continues to be successfully managed. Ultimately, no Gucci family members remain with the company.