In August 1904, Sabina Spielrein arrives at the Burghölzli, the pre-eminent psychiatric hospital in Zürich, suffering from hysteria and begins a new course of treatment with the young Swiss doctor Carl Jung. He uses word association and dream interpretation as part of his approach to psychoanalysis and finds that Spielrein's condition was triggered by the humiliation and sexual arousal she felt as a child when her father spanked her naked. Jung and chief of medicine Eugen Bleuler recognize Spielrein's intelligence and energy and allow her to assist them in their experiments. She measures the physical reactions of subjects during word association, to provide empirical data as a scientific basis for psychoanalysis. She soon learns that much of this new science is founded on the doctors' observations of themselves, each other, and their families, not just their patients. The doctors, Jung and Freud, correspond at length before they meet, and begin sharing their dreams and analysing each other, and Freud himself soon adopts Jung as his heir and agent. Jung finds in Spielrein a kindred spirit, and their attraction deepens due to transference. Jung resists the idea of cheating on his wife, Emma, and breaking the taboo of sex with a patient, but his resolve is weakened by the wild and unrepentant confidences of his new patient Otto Gross, a brilliant, philandering, unstable psychoanalyst. Gross decries monogamy in general and suggests that resistance to transference is symptomatic of the repression of normal, healthy sexual impulses, exhorting Jung to indulge himself with abandon. Jung finally begins an affair with Spielrein, including rudimentary bondage and spanking. Things become even more tangled as he becomes her advisor to her dissertation; he publishes not only his studies of her as a patient but eventually her treatise as well. Spielrein wants to conceive a child with Jung, but he refuses. After he attempts to confine their relationship again to doctor and patient, she appeals to Freud for his professional help, and forces Jung to tell Freud the truth about their relationship, reminding him that she could have publicly damaged him but did not want to. Jung and Freud travel to America. However, cracks appear in their friendship as they begin to disagree more frequently on matters of psychoanalysis. Jung and Spielrein meet to work on her dissertation in Switzerland and begin their sexual relationship once more. However, after Jung refuses to leave his wife for her, Spielrein decides to go to Vienna. She meets Freud and says that although she sides with him, she believes he and Jung need to reconcile for psychoanalysis to continue to develop. Following Freud's collapse at an academic conference, he and Jung continue correspondence via letters. They decide to end their relationship after increasing hostilities and accusations regarding the differences in their conceptualisation of psychoanalysis. Spielrein marries a Russian doctor and, while pregnant, visits Jung and his wife. They discuss psychoanalysis and Jung's new mistress. Jung confides that his love for Spielrein made him a better person. The film's footnote reveals the eventual fates of the four analysts. Gross starved to death in Berlin in 1920. Freud died of cancer in London in 1939 after being driven out of Vienna by the Nazis. Spielrein trained several analysts in the Soviet Union before she and her two daughters were shot by the Nazis in 1942. Jung emerged from a nervous breakdown to become the world's leading psychologist before dying in 1961.

Russia, early 1990s. Sergei Mamontov is looking for where to apply himself and his intellect. And so he orders a mock-up of a security paper with imperial script, rich ornament, watermarks and his own portrait in the center. An active advertising campaign begins. A little more than two weeks is enough to make people line up for the "mamontovs" ("mamontovki" in Russian). Powerful bankers and state structures are in confusion – no one has a clue how to stop it, and the MMM has already accumulated more than 10 million investors. Furthermore, Mamontov is concerned that there are no rich people in the country, and all Soviet industry is exposed to privatization. He accumulates "private greeds" and decides to carry out an honest privatization. His way is blocked by the agent of Western imperialism - Belyavsky (an allusion to Boris Berezovsky) with his MegaVAZ-bank (an allusion to LogoVAZ). Belyavsky comes from the top - he makes connections in the Kremlin and is in charge of television. Belyavsky proposes to share Russia. Mamontov refuses: "I do not trade with Russia!", which attracts the financial inspectorate, who, without checking documents, imposes unthinkable demands for paying taxes upon him, which Mamontov executes. There is still enough money to ruin the bank of Belyavsky. In the country by that time are already 20 million investors and every week the number increases by a million, the "mamontov's" goes on par with ruble. Mamontov threatens to seize power with the help of investors who are facing ruin. During a one-minute audience with the President, Mamontov appears as a guardian for the state amid a corrupt environment and asks for a change in the law - to allow foreigners to be involved in their financial system in order to subordinate the Western oligarchy and thereby make Boris Yeltsin 's Russia leader of the world. But Belyavsky begins to threaten the life of Mamontov's daughter and he eventually falls into a trap. On the Ostankino Tower, the battered Mamontov again refuses to cooperate with Belyavsky, despite the proposed opportunity to become the "head of state". Mamontov hopes to leave with his daughter, defending himself by having a recording of a conversation with a representative of the FCS (where he offered similar "privileges"), from his assistant Vera, but she, escaping from the people of Belyavsky, drops the recording in a park and on charges of non-payment of taxes, Mamontov gets in prison and comes out after 7 years.

After living in the UK for ten years, author Bill Bryson has moved back to the US and is living in New Hampshire. Now in his 60s, he has been living there peacefully. A television interview reports that he has published several popular books and there is speculation he will be writing more. Bryson, however, has no such plans. Bryson and his wife Catherine attend a funeral. Afterwards, he takes a stroll up to the nearby Appalachian Trail, and suddenly decides he will hike its entire length. Catherine objects, presenting many accounts of accidents and murders on the trail. She relents on the condition that he not travel alone. He agrees and searches for a friend willing to join him. Everyone declines his invitation; some declare him insane. Finally, he is contacted by Stephen Katz, an old friend who offers to be a hiking companion. Despite appearances, Stephen claims to be fit enough for the challenge. Bill's wife is unhappy with his choice, but relents. Within less than a mile of their departure point, as groups of hikers overtake and pass them, they begin to grasp the difficulty of their ambition. Shortly after, a group of young children effortlessly runs by them up the trail, laughing and calling out to each other. Seeing others pass by so easily motivates them to carry on. Weeks pass, and they overcome obstacles and encounter interesting characters together, some friendlier and some more hostile. One day, having hiked miserably through pouring rain, they reach a hut. Carved into the log wall is an Appalachian Trail map showing the trail and their present location. They realize they have finished less than half of the trail after spending three months on it. The two ultimately trek into a restricted section posted "for experienced hikers only". While maneuvering their heavy and awkward backpacks alongside a precipitous drop, Bill trips and pulls Stephen with him down a steep, rocky cliff. They fall about fifteen feet onto a ledge spacious enough to be comfortable, but far enough below the trail to be unable to get back up to resume the hike. They spend the night there with no clear hope of rescue. The next day, they are awakened by early morning hikers who are able to get them off the ledge. The men decide they have had enough and end their journey. When comfortably back at home, Bill, going through his mail, finds a series of postcards from Stephen that were mailed from their various stops along the trail. The last one reads: "What's next?' Bill sits down and begins typing on his computer, " A Walk In The Woods."

A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.

In 1924, Richard and his father Melville walk through the woods where Melville shows his scientific inspiration for Richard.In 1934, Richard and Arline are in high school and their romantic relationship starts.The story jumps to his college years and Arline getting sick with lymphatic tuberculosis.It continues to his move west to Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where Arline follows him later to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she dies.The film ends with Feynman crying at the sight of the red dress Arline had pointed out.

The story opens in 2010, with the release of the Afghan War Logs. It then flashes back to 2007, where journalist Daniel Domscheit-Berg meets Australian journalist Julian Assange for the first time, at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin. Daniel's interest in online activism has led him to Assange, with whom he has corresponded by email. They begin working together on WikiLeaks, a website devoted to releasing information being withheld from the public while retaining anonymity for its sources. Their first major target is a private Swiss bank, Julius Baer, whose Cayman Islands branch has been engaged in illegal activities. Despite Baer's filing of a lawsuit and obtaining an injunction, the judge dissolves the injunction, allowing Julian and Daniel to reclaim the domain name. As their confidence increases, the two push forward in publishing information over the next three years, including secrets on Scientology, revealing Sarah Palin's email account, and the membership list of the British National Party. At first Daniel enjoys changing the world, viewing WikiLeaks as a noble enterprise and Assange as a mentor. However, the relationship between the two becomes strained over time. Daniel loses his job and problems arise in his relationship, particularly concerning the BNP membership leak, which also revealed the addresses of the people involved, and caused several to lose their jobs. Assange openly mocks Daniel's concerns about these issues, implying his own life has been more troubling. Assange's abrasive manner and actions, such as abandoning Daniel at his parents' house after having accepted their dinner invitation, only deepen the strain further. Interspersed throughout the film are flashbacks hinting at Assange's troubled childhood and involvement in a suspicious cult, and that Assange's obsession with WikiLeaks has more to do with childhood trauma than wanting to improve the world. Daniel begins to fear that Assange may be closer to a con man than a mentor. He also notices that Assange constantly gives different stories about why his hair is white. Assange at first tells Daniel that WikiLeaks has hundreds of workers, but Daniel later finds out that Daniel and Assange are the only members. Most importantly to Daniel, Assange frequently says that protecting sources is the website's number one goal. However, Daniel begins to suspect that Assange only cares about protecting sources so people will come forward and that Assange does not actually care who gets hurt by the website, though Assange says that the harm the website may cause is outweighed by good the leaks create. Daniel's girlfriend tells him that she believes in his cause, but that it's his job to prevent Assange from going too far. The tensions come to a head when Bradley Manning (later known as Chelsea Manning) leaks hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, including the "Collateral Murder" video of an airstrike in Baghdad, the Afghan and Iraq War Logs, and 250,000 US Diplomatic Cables. Assange wants to leak the documents immediately, but Daniel insists that they review the documents first. Later, several major newspapers agree to cooperate with WikiLeaks in releasing the documents while spinning WikiLeaks positively. However, both Daniel and the newspapers require the names in the documents be redacted both to protect sources and to assist in the media spin, to which Assange reluctantly agrees. Daniel realizes that Assange has no intention of following through on this promise and is grooming a right-hand man to replace Daniel. The newspapers release the redacted documents. The resulting media and public uproar forces informants to flee from their countries of residence and many U.S. diplomats to resign. Before Assange can go further, however, Daniel and the other members of the original WikiLeaks team delete the site and block Assange's access to the server. Daniel later talks with a reporter from The Guardian, and the two fear that giving Assange such a large platform was a mistake. The reporter tells Daniel that while Assange may be untrustworthy, he had done a good thing by uncovering secret dealing in the government and business world and attempting to protect sources. Daniel also reveals the real reason for Assange's hair colour—that it had been a custom of the cult he had been part of in Australia—and reports that he once accidentally discovered Assange dyeing it that colour. It is revealed that WikiLeaks is continuing to leak information (with Assange implied to have either regained the site or rebuilt it), and the Manning documents were released with no redactions. Daniel has written a book on his involvement with the organization on which this film was based, and Assange has threatened to sue in retaliation. Assange is shown to be living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid arrest on an outstanding warrant for alleged sex crimes. In an interview, he denounces the two upcoming WikiLeaks films, stating that they will be factually inaccurate (having been partly based on Daniel's book). He says that all institutions are fallible but that hiring Daniel was the one mistake he made.

In 1986, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Wurtzel is a 19-year-old accepted into Harvard with a scholarship in journalism. She has been raised by her divorced mother since she was two years old and has not seen her father at all in the last four years. Despite his lack of interest and involvement, Lizzie still misses her father, a contributing factor to her depression. Through a series of flashbacks, it is clear that there was a total communication breakdown between Lizzie's parents, which is soon reflected in Lizzie's own relationship with her mother, Lynne. Soon after arriving at Harvard, Lizzie decides to lose her virginity to an older student, Noah. Lizzie proceeds to alienate Noah by throwing a loss-of-virginity party immediately afterwards with the help of her roommate Ruby. Although she and Lizzie begin as best friends, Ruby soon becomes another casualty of Lizzie's instability. Although Lizzie's article for the local music column in The Harvard Crimson earns her an award from Rolling Stone early into the semester, she soon finds herself unable to write, stuck in a vicious cycle with substance abuse. Lizzie's promising literary career is at risk, as is her mental and physical health. Lynne sends her to expensive psychiatric sessions with Dr. Sterling towards which her father, pleading poverty, implacably refuses to contribute anything. She begins a relationship with another student, Rafe, but struggles with trust issues and fears of abandonment. During the holiday break, she visits his home in Texas. Upon discovering that his sister is severely autistic, Lizzie accuses Rafe of being "a creepy voyeur" who gets off on witnessing the pain of others. Rafe breaks up with her. Dr. Sterling prescribes Lizzie medication to cope with her spiraling depression following her breakup. Meanwhile, Lynne is hospitalized after a violent mugging. Lizzie helps take care of her, and a relationship of honesty, accountability, and mutual support develops between them. After a long period of treatment under medication and a suicidal gesture, Lizzie stabilizes and begins to adjust to her life.

In 1968, English businessman Donald Crowhurst is inspired by Sir Francis Chichester to compete in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. Though only an amateur sailor, Crowhurst believes that technology and gumption will enable him to succeed in a custom trimaran, thus ensuring financial security for his wife and young children. As delays and costs mount, however, Crowhurst is forced to sign promissory notes pledging his company and home to his main sponsor Stanley Best, should he fail to finish. Barely ready in time for the race, Crowhurst must complete the race or lose everything he holds dear. During his trip in the Teignmouth Electron he attempts to give an optimistic version of events to both his family and press agent, but inwardly feels under pressure due to his financial situation, physical danger and loneliness. The film cuts between his voyage and scenes at home where his wife Clare is attempting to deal with the situation. To make matters worse for Crowhurst, his boat is damaged, making his journey forward extremely risky. He begins to falsify his records, greatly exaggerating how far he has sailed each day. Crowhurst decides to be vague in his communications, hinting to the newspapers that he is rounding the cape of Africa, while instead sailing slowly and attempting to go unnoticed before returning home. He surreptitiously lands in Argentina to repair the boat. At home, his apparent success is bringing significant press attention. Robin Knox-Johnston completes the race, but Crowhurst’s false accounts suggest that he will finish the fastest as all other sailors but one have dropped out of the race. Crowhurst slows down his return trip to avoid the attention that finishing fastest would bring, knowing that scrutiny would reveal he had fabricated his earlier location reports. Upon learning that the other sailor still in the race has also dropped out because of his false records, he becomes overwhelmed with guilt and fear. He starts to lose his mind and begins to hallucinate and imagines seeing his wife who he confesses to. As his mental health fails, so does his physical health and he is oblivious to harming himself as he attempts to stay occupied by maintaining the radio. Meanwhile the vessel drifts. As his family, the press and public expectantly wait for his return, he loses all control of his mind and his situation and in despair realises he cannot go home and only has one way out. His vessel is eventually found adrift without Crowhurst onboard. It is not clear if he has jumped or fallen overboard. The authorities deduce from his records that he has lied about his progress during his journey. In the closing credits it states that Crowhurst‘s body was never found and that he was at sea for 7 months and completed 13,000 miles. Robin Knox-Johnston was the only sailor to finish the race and he donated his prize money to Crowhurst‘s family.

High Roller is told in flashback. Ungar (Michael Imperioli), in a motel room on the last night of his life, relates his personal story to a stranger (Michael Pasternak). He speaks of growing up as the son of a bookie, his career as a tournament gin player, moving into poker, his marriage and the birth of his daughter Stefanie, cocaine abuse, and the breakup of his marriage. The film climaxes with Ungar's third victory at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker a year before his passing. In the final scene, Ungar departs the motel room with the stranger (who apparently represents the Grim Reaper).