Richard Phillips takes command of MV Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container vessel from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Wary of pirate activity off the coast of the Horn of Africa, he and First Officer Shane Murphy order strict security precautions on the vessel. During a practice drill, the captain notices the vessel being followed by Somali pirates in two skiffs. Knowing the pirates are listening to their radio traffic, he pretends to call a warship for help, requesting immediate air support. One skiff turns around in response, and the other – crewed by four armed pirates led by Abduwali Muse – loses engine power trying to steer through Maersk Alabama ' s wake. The next day, Muse's skiff returns, now fitted with two outboard engines. Despite the efforts of Phillips and his crew, the four pirates board the ship by ladder. Phillips tells the crew to hide in the engine room, just before the pirates storm the bridge and hold Phillips and the other crew members at gunpoint. Phillips offers Muse the $30,000 in the ship's safe, but Muse's orders are to ransom the ship and crew in exchange for millions of dollars of insurance money from the shipping company. Shane sees that the youngest pirate Bilal does not have sandals and tells the crew to line the engine room hallway with broken glass. Chief Engineer Mike Perry deactivates the onboard power, plunging the lower decks into darkness. Bilal cuts his feet when they reach the engine room, and Muse continues to search alone. The crew members ambush Muse, holding him at knifepoint, and arrange to release him and the other pirates into a lifeboat. However, Muse's right-hand man Nour Najee refuses to board the lifeboat with Muse unless Phillips goes with them. Once all are on the lifeboat, Najee attacks Phillips, forcing him into the vessel before launching the boat with all five on board. As the lifeboat heads for Somalia, tensions flare between the pirates as the effects of the plant-based stimulant khat wear off, and they lose contact with their mother ship. Najee, agitated, questions Muse's leadership when they are intercepted by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge. Bainbridge ' s captain Frank Castellano is ordered to prevent the pirates from reaching the Somali coast by any means. Even when additional ships arrive, Muse asserts that he has come too far and will not surrender. The negotiators are unable to change his mind, and a team from DEVGRU parachutes in to intervene. Phillips attempts to escape but is recaptured and beaten by Najee. While three DEVGRU marksmen get into positions, Castellano and DEVGRU continue to try to find a peaceful solution, eventually taking the lifeboat under tow. Muse agrees to board Bainbridge, where he is told that his clan elders are arriving to negotiate Phillips's ransom. Najee, in control of the lifeboat now, spots Phillips writing a goodbye letter to his wife and snatches it. Phillips attacks Najee but Bilal subdues him with his gun butt. Najee beats Phillips, now bound and blindfolded, and prepares to shoot him. Bainbridge ' s crew stops the tow, causing Elmi, Bilal, and Najee to lose balance, giving the American marksmen clear shots, and they simultaneously kill all three pirates. Muse is arrested and taken into custody for piracy. Phillips is rescued and his injuries are treated. Although in shock and tears, he thanks the rescue team for saving his life.

Malik El Djebena, a 19-year-old of Maghrebi descent, is sentenced to six years in prison for attacking police officers. Alone and illiterate upon his arrival, he falls under the sway of Corsican mobsters, led by César Luciani, who enforces a brutal rule. The prison is divided between two main factions: the Corsicans and the Maghrebis. Malik keeps to himself. When Luciani forces him to be the unwilling assassin of Reyeb, a Maghrebi witness in a trial, Malik gains the protection of the Corsicans despite his North African origin. Malik serves as a low-level servant to the Corsicans, who treat him with disdain. All the while, he is haunted by visions of the murdered Reyeb. When most of the Corsicans are transferred or released, Luciani is forced to give Malik more responsibility. Having secretly learned Corsican, Malik acts as Luciani's eyes and ears in the prison. When Malik earns the privilege of day-long furloughs outside the prison, Luciani relies on him to conduct Luciani's criminal business outside. Ryad, a Maghrebi friend, teaches Malik to read and write, and the two become close. Ryad teaches Malik about his own heritage, introducing him to two other Maghrebis, Tarik and Hassan, and increases his power within the prison. Malik also becomes involved with a prison drug dealer, Jordi. When Ryad gains an early release due to testicular cancer, the three partners organize a drug-running enterprise to sell hashish. But when Ryad is kidnapped by the drug dealer Latif, Malik tracks down Latif's relative inside the prison. He kidnaps the relative's family and forces Latif's gang to release Ryad. When Luciani discovers that Malik is using his day-releases for his own personal enterprise, he punishes him by pressing a spoon against his eye. Later on, Malik is sent by César to meet Brahim Lattrache in Marseille, another Maghrebi, who is involved in a deal between Luciani and the Lingherris, an Italian mafia group. Lattrache is bitter toward the Corsicans for the murder of Reyeb and holds Malik at gunpoint. When Malik spots a deer warning sign, he remembers a recent dream of deer running in the road. He tells his kidnappers that they are in danger of hitting wild animals, and they suddenly strike a deer. Lattrache is impressed by Malik, calling him a prophet and agreeing to conduct criminal business with him instead of Luciani, even though Malik admitted that he killed Reyeb. Luciani believes there is a "mole" in his organization and decides to use Malik to assassinate Jacky Marcaggi, the don of the Corsican mafia, for secretly dealing with the Lingherris. But Malik and Ryad have their own plan for Marcaggi: they kill his bodyguards, kidnap him, and tell him that it was Luciani who ordered the hit before abandoning him in the city. Malik takes refuge at Ryad's house. The friend's cancer has returned: Ryad's decision to forego more chemotherapy leaves him just six months to live. He gets Malik to promise to take care of his family (wife and young son) when he's gone. Upon Malik's return to prison, he is placed in solitary for returning late on purpose - putting him temporarily out of reach of Luciani's retribution - while Marcaggi uses his influence to wipe out Luciani's faction. Once back in general population, Malik joins the Maghrebi faction in the yard as their new leader. When a now powerless Luciani tries to approach him, two Maghrebis intercept and beat him. On the day of his release, Malik is met by Ryad's wife and son outside the prison. They walk off together, followed by a convoy of vehicles carrying Malik's new associates.

Danila Bagrov (Sergei Bodrov Jr.), recently discharged after serving in the First Chechen War, returns to his hometown. His mother insists that he travel to Saint Petersburg to seek out his successful older brother Viktor (Viktor Sukhorukov), who his mother is confident will help him make a living. Arriving in Saint Petersburg, Danila wanders around the city and befriends Kat (Maria Zhukova), an energetic party girl, and an elderly Russian German named Hoffman (Yury Kuznetsov), a homeless street vendor whom Danila rescues from a thug attempting to extort him. Unbeknown to their mother, Viktor is an accomplished hitman who goes by the nickname "Tatar", working for a St. Petersburg mafia boss called "Krugly" (Russian for "round"). His latest target is "the Chechen", a Chechen mafia boss who had seized a local market. Krugly (Sergei Murzin), who is unhappy with the amount of money that Viktor has demanded for the hit, orders his thugs to watch the Chechen, so that they can kill Viktor after the hit and thereby avoid paying him. Danila eventually meets up with Viktor. To avoid exposure, Viktor passes his assignment to his brother, gives him money to settle in the city, and then lies to him that the Chechen has been extorting from him, asking Danila to perform the hit. Danila agrees. Through Hoffman's friends, Danila rents a room in the apartment of an elderly alcoholic war veteran. Arriving in the market in a disguise, Danila detonates several homemade explosives as a distraction, and, taking advantage of the confusion, kills the Chechen, but Krugly's men pursue Danila and manage to wound him. Danila barely escapes the pursuit, jumping onto a freight tram, and in a shootout kills one of the bandits. Tram driver Sveta (Svetlana Pismichenko) offers to help the wounded Danila, but he refuses, promising to find her later and thank her. After Danila recovers with Hoffman's help, he sets off to look for Sveta. A relationship develops between them, despite Sveta having a husband who is rarely home and who constantly beats her. Meanwhile, Krugly finds the tram on which Danila escaped and asks Sveta about it, who puts Krugly on a false trail. Krugly promises to punish her if she deceived them. Danila goes to visit Sveta, having bought her a radio with a CD player as a gift. Left alone in the room, he runs into her husband, who unexpectedly arrives. Danila takes the keys to the room from him and forbids him to show up in the future. After going to a party with Kat and having sex with her, Danila wakes up in his apartment to a phone call from Viktor. Pretending to be ill, Viktor asks him to take part in another job in his place, and Danila agrees again. Meanwhile, Krugliy decides to draw the Tatar into a combined raid. Danila meets the two bandits and together they go to an apartment where the target is supposed to appear. Taking the owner of the apartment hostage, they wait for the target, who has gone to get some vodka. At the same time, a group of local musicians is celebrating a birthday one floor above, and one of the guests, sound engineer Stepan, mistakes the floor and ends up in the apartment where Danila and the bandits are. Stepan turns out to be an unwanted witness, and the bandits take him hostage. Danila promises him that he will not be harmed. Some time later, Vyacheslav Butusov (cameo) also calls the apartment by mistake. Danila follows Butusov up to the apartment on the floor above and listens to the music. Returning to the apartment and seeing that the bandits have killed the owner and are about to deal with Stepan, Danila says that he will do it himself, takes a gun from one of the bandits, but unexpectedly shoots the two bandits. With Stepan's help, he hides the bodies in the cemetery and asks Hoffman to bury them. Krugly and his men begin hunting for Danila. They come to Sveta, beat and rape her, but they fail to learn anything about Danila. A bandit nicknamed Krot sets up an ambush for Danila, but Danila manages to survive and kill Krot. Coming to Sveta and seeing her beaten, Danila learns that this is Krugly's work. Krugly takes Viktor hostage and, threatening to kill him, demands that he hand over Danila and return the money. At this point, Danila calls his brother and is suspicious after hearing his frightened voice. Danila buys a shotgun from his landlord, makes a sawed-off shotgun out of it and, rescuing his brother, kills Krugly and his men. In light of these events, Viktor is afraid that Danila will punish him for betrayal, but Danila calms him down, remembering sentimental memories from their childhood. Danila takes the briefcase with money from the apartment and advises his brother to return home to his mother and get a job with the police. Then he comes to Sveta, but, having witnessed her husband beating her again, he shoots him in the legs with the sawed-off shotgun. Unexpectedly for Danila, Sveta rushes to help her abusive husband, shouting at Danila that she does not love him and demanding that he leave. Having left Sveta, a frustrated Danila goes to Hoffman, discusses with him the pernicious influence of the big city on people and finally offers him money, but he refuses. Then Danila meets Kat, tells her about his departure and gives her a wad of dollars. The film ends with Danila walking out onto a snowy highway and hitchhiking toward Moscow.

"August, 1962 was a stormy time for France. Many people felt that President Charles de Gaulle had betrayed the country by giving independence to Algeria. Extremists, mostly from the army, swore to kill him in revenge. They banded together in an underground movement and called themselves the OAS." The far-right Organisation armée secrète ("Secret Army Organisation") plots to assassinate President de Gaulle. The first attempt on 22 August fails, leaving de Gaulle and his entourage unharmed. Within six months, OAS leader Jean Bastien-Thiry and several members are captured, and Bastien-Thiry is executed. With their initial plot foiled, the remaining OAS leaders, now hiding in Austria, hatch a new plan. They enlist the services of an apolitical British assassin given the code name "Jackal," a figure already credited with the assassinations of Patrice Lumumba and Rafael Trujillo. Aware that targeting de Gaulle is extremely risky and demanding a final retirement in anonymity, the Jackal insists on a fee of $500,000, half to be paid upfront into his Swiss bank account. To raise the money, the OAS uses its extensive network to execute a series of bank robberies. Preparing for his mission, the Jackal travels to Genoa where he commissions a custom single-shot rifle from a skilled gunsmith and secures fake identity papers from a forger—a man he later kills when the criminal attempts to extort him. In Paris, the Jackal duplicates a key to a sixth-floor flat overlooking a historically significant square, setting the stage for the planned assassination. Meanwhile, the OAS leadership has relocated to Rome, although their activities continue to draw the attention of French security forces. French intelligence makes a breakthrough when they kidnap the OAS's chief clerk, Viktor Wolenski. Although Wolenski dies during interrogation, he reveals crucial details of the plot, including the term "Jackal". In response, the Interior Minister convenes a secret meeting with top security officials. Police Commissioner Berthier recommends his deputy, Claude Lebel, to lead the investigation under the constraints of secrecy with Lebel being granted special emergency powers despite de Gaulle's insistence on maintaining his public schedule. Complicating matters further, Colonel St Clair—de Gaulle's personal military aide and a cabinet member—divulges classified details to his new mistress, Denise, an OAS agent. At the same time, Lebel is informed by Special Branch that a British national, Charles Harold Calthrop, might be connected to the assassination plot and travelling under the alias Paul Oliver Duggan. Despite learning that his plot is compromised, and he can walk away keeping his down payment, the Jackal decides to stay in France and presses forward. While staying in a hotel in Nice, he meets and seduces the aristocratic Colette de Montpellier, but narrowly evades capture as Lebel and his team close in. After surviving a severe vehicular accident, the Jackal flees to Madame de Montpellier's country estate. There, when she reveals that the police have already questioned her and probes for more details from him, he kills her. Dyeing his blonde hair brown and donning spectacles, he assumes the identity of a Danish schoolteacher, Per Lundquist, then boards a train for Paris. The discovery of Madame de Montpellier's murder allows Lebel to drop all secrecy constraints and launch a public manhunt. The Jackal temporarily hides at the flat of a man he picks up in a Turkish bath, killing him when the man learns of Montpellier's murder. At a subsequent cabinet meeting, Lebel predicts that the Jackal will try to shoot de Gaulle during the upcoming Liberation Day ceremony marking the commemoration of Paris's liberation during World War II. Despite Lebel's efficient and successful leadership of the investigation, he is dismissed from the case as the Minister assumes command directly for the final part, only to be reinstated less than 24 hours later when the Minister draws a blank and Lebel's expertise is recognised as indispensable. On Liberation Day, the Jackal disguises himself as an elderly French veteran, André Martin, and conceals his rifle within crutches. Using the previously duplicated key, he accesses an upper story room of a building overlooking the ceremony. When de Gaulle unexpectedly leans forward while presenting a medal to a veteran, the Jackal's shot narrowly misses. While the Jackal is reloading for a second attempt, Lebel and a gendarme storm the room. The Jackal kills the policeman before being fatally shot by Lebel. Back in London, the real Charles Calthrop arrives at his flat, interrupting the policemen as they sift through his belongings. Ultimately, the assassin is interred in an unmarked grave, leaving the true identity behind his many disguises an enduring mystery.

Joong-ho is a dishonest pimp and former police detective who is in financial trouble because two of his prostitutes have gone missing. One night, he commands Mi-jin to service a customer, despite her protests over her sickness. Joong-ho then realizes this customer was the last to see his missing girls. Believing that this customer is trafficking his women, Joong-ho nevertheless sends Mi-jin in so that she can forward the customer's address to him. Joong-ho contacts his old police task force for help, but they cannot assist because the mayor of Seoul, whom they were guarding, has been attacked with feces; this results in the police suffering a media firestorm. The customer, Yeong-min, takes Mi-jin back to the house but Mi-jin fails to contact Joong-ho due to the bathroom having no cell service. Yeong-min binds Mi-jin, but her struggles prevent her murderer with a chisel, so Yeong-min hits her with a hammer, knocking her out. Just then, an elderly couple from the local church arrives, inquiring about the real house owner, Mr. Park; they recognize his dog. Yeong-min then invites the elderly couple in and murders them. Joong-ho, only aware of the customer's district, searches. Yeong-min tries to ditch the couple's car, but collides with Joong-ho's car. Joong-ho's suspicions are aroused as Yeong-min has blood on his shirt and refuses to give his phone number. Joong-ho calls the customer's number and Yeong-min's phone rings. Yeong-min flees but is caught and beaten by Joong-ho. Both men are arrested by a local cop. At the station, Yeong-min casually admits that he committed nine murders. Competing police divisions argue over who will investigate the high-profile unsolved murders in the area. Despite the confession, the police have no physical evidence so they cannot detain Yeong-min for long. Yeong-min reveals Mi-jin is alive, but the police doubt it. Joong-ho goes to Mi-jin's apartment to collect DNA samples, and from there he takes Mi-jin's daughter Eun-ji with him while he follows up a lead in Yeong-min's hometown. Joong-ho learns that Yeong-min was jailed for three years for lobotomizing his nephew. Another prostitute informs Joong-ho that Yeong-min is impotent. When Yeong-min is questioned about his impotency being part of his motive, he attacks the interrogator. Joong-ho's assistant finds a room where Yeong-min had once lived; Joong-ho discovers religious drawings on the room's walls. Eun-ji wanders off while following a woman who looks like her mother, then meets with an accident and is brought to a hospital by Joong-ho. Yeong-min provides a false lead after being beaten again by Joong-ho. The prosecutor discovers Yeong-min's injuries and demands Yeong-min's release, refusing to wait for DNA test results. Saying that Yeong-min's arrest will be seen as the police's attempt to save face, the prosecutor demands Joong-ho's arrest for injuring Yeong-min. Joong-ho is handcuffed and attacks his former teammates to escape; one of them frees him. Meanwhile, Mi-jin frees herself and escapes from the house. Badly injured, she finds help at a nearby corner shop and hides in the back. The police are informed, but the nearest officers are fast asleep. Yeong-min stops at the same shop to buy cigarettes. Not knowing Yeong-min is the attacker himself, the shopkeeper tells him about Mi-jin's story, asking him to stay to protect them from the attacker while they await the police. Yeong-min uses the shopkeeper's hammer to murder both her and Mi-jin. Alerted by police sirens, Joong-ho arrives to find the police have cordoned off the bloody shop. Yeong-min escapes off-camera back to Mr. Park's house, where he stores Mi-jin's severed head and hands in a fish tank. Yeong-min buries the elderly couple and kills Mr. Park's dog. The humiliated police throw everything into the search for Yeong-min, while the story is leaked to the public. A distraught Joong-ho follows a lead to the local church and then notices that a church statue matches the drawings he had seen in Yeong-min's old room. As Mr. Park was the sculptor and Yeong-min his "assistant", the deacon points Joong-ho to Mr. Park's house. Joong-ho enters the residence, interrupting Yeong-min's departure. They fight, with Joong-ho ultimately getting the upper hand, but the police arrive and restrain Joong-ho from killing Yeong-min. Yeong-Min is taken away while the police excavate the yard, finding several bodies. The film ends with Joong-ho sitting silently by Eun-ji in her hospital room, holding her hand.

At a Los Angeles rail yard, petty thief Louis "Lou" Bloom attacks a guard, taking his watch and stealing manhole covers, fencing, and other materials. While trying to sell the stolen materials at a scrap yard, Lou asks the foreman for a job. The foreman, knowing everything is stolen, refuses to hire a thief. While driving home, Lou spots a car crash and pulls over. Stringers —freelance photojournalists —arrive and record the burning wreckage and police response. One stringer, Joe Loder, explains to Lou how they sell film footage to local news stations. Joe declines Lou's request for a job. Lou steals an expensive bicycle and pawns it for a camcorder and a police radio scanner. After two unsuccessful attempts at recording incidents, Lou records the aftermath of a fatal carjacking and sells the footage to KWLA 6. The morning news director, Nina Romina, says the station is especially interested in "graphic" footage of accidents and violent crime in affluent, predominantly white areas. Lou hires Rick, a young homeless man desperate for money, as his assistant. To create more dramatic film footage, Lou tampers with crime scenes, in one case moving a body for a better camera angle. As Lou's work gains traction, he buys better equipment and a faster car. Lou is a quick learner and establishes a working relationship with Nina at KWLA6. Knowing Nina's two-year contract is nearly up and that she needs higher ratings to keep her job, he threatens to sell his footage to other stations unless she agrees to a sexual relationship, higher payment, and on-air credit for his footage. Recognizing Lou as a competitor, Joe offers to hire him as his second van to cover the whole LA area, but Lou declines. Joe beats him to an important plane crash story and gloats to Lou. Nina berates Lou, demanding he get better footage to keep their bargain. In the daytime, Lou drives to Joe's house and tampers with his van which is parked outside. Joe is later severely injured in a car crash, and Lou records the aftermath. Lou and Rick arrive before the police at the site of a triple-homicide home invasion in Granada Hills. Lou films the gunmen leaving in a Cadillac Escalade as well as the victims in the house. He presents the footage to the station after editing out the perpetrators. The news staff frets over the ethics of using the footage, but Nina is eager to break the story. In exchange, Lou demands public credit, more money, and that Nina unhesitatingly meet his sexual demands. Police detective Frontieri questions Lou regarding his connection to the home invasion. Lou gives her edited footage of the incident that omits the gunmen. That night, Lou and Rick track one gunman to his house, staking it out. Uneasy, Rick negotiates a raise and promotion, which helps salve his worry. Lou delays calling the police, wanting a more public area for recording the arrest, predicting it will be violent. Alarmed at possible innocents being hurt, Rick reopens negotiation, irritating Lou. He demands half the $50,000 reward money for locating the gunman and threatens to tell the police about Lou withholding evidence. Under duress, Lou is forced to acquiesce. The gunman then leaves and picks up his partner. Lou and Rick follow them to a crowded diner, where Lou calls the police, warning them the suspects are armed. The police arrive, where they shoot and kill one of the gunmen after a police officer is shot, and the other escapes in the Escalade. Lou and Rick follow close behind the pursuing police, filming it, which culminates in a long multiple-car collision. Lou approaches the gunman's crashed vehicle and peers inside, then instructs Rick to film the aftermath, claiming the gunman is dead. Lou sets up for a wide shot. As Rick peers inside the car, he is shot by the gunman. The gunman attempts to flee on foot but is shot dead by arriving police. As Rick lies dying, he accuses Lou of knowing the gunman was alive. Lou, filming Rick, says he cannot work with an untrustworthy employee. Nina is awed by the chase footage and expresses devotion to Lou. The news team discovers that the home invasion was actually the criminals breaking in to steal the homeowner's cocaine stash. Nina holds the story until the following night's news to maximize the story's dramatic impact. Police try to confiscate Lou's footage as evidence, but Nina defends her legal right to withhold it and immediately airs it. Lou voluntarily speaks with Detective Frontieri and fabricates a story about the men in the Escalade following him. Frontieri accuses Lou of lying but lacks evidence. Later, Lou now has two vans (as Joe had) and hires a team of interns to expand his film business, telling them that he will not ask them to do anything he is unwilling to do himself.

During the Great Depression, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker of Texas meet when Clyde tries to steal Bonnie's mother's car. Bored with her job as a waitress, Bonnie becomes intrigued by Clyde and decides to partner with him in crime. They pull off some holdups, but their amateur efforts, while exciting, are not very lucrative. Bonnie and Clyde turn from small-time heists to bank robbing. The duo's crime spree shifts into high gear once they hook up with a dim-witted gas station attendant, C.W. Moss. Their exploits also become more violent. After C.W. botches parking during a bank robbery and delays their escape, Clyde shoots the bank manager in the face when he jumps onto the slow-moving car's running board. Clyde's older brother, Buck, and his wife, Blanche, a preacher's daughter, also join them. The two women develop an immediate dislike for each other, which only intensifies over time. Blanche has nothing but disdain for Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W., while Bonnie sees Blanche's flightiness as a constant danger to the gang's survival. In Joplin, Missouri, local police show up at the gang's rented house after being alerted by a grocery delivery boy; two policemen are killed in a shootout. The gang is pursued by law enforcement, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, whom they capture and humiliate before leaving him adrift on a boat while handcuffed. The five outlaws then pull a heist, during which a police chase disables their vehicle. They steal Eugene Grizzard's car and take him and his girlfriend captive before quickly abandoning them when they learn he is an undertaker. Bonnie wants to visit her family in Texas and give them part of the heist funds, to which Clyde reluctantly acquiesces despite the risk. An ambush by law enforcement overnight catches the gang off guard, resulting in numerous casualties. Buck is mortally wounded by a shot to his head, and Blanche is injured in one eye, losing sight in it. Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W. barely escape alive, while Blanche falls into police custody. Hamer then tricks her into revealing C.W.'s name (until then he was only an "unidentified suspect"). C.W. takes the wounded Bonnie and Clyde to hide out at the house of his father, Ivan, who thinks the couple has corrupted his son (as evidenced by an ornate tattoo Bonnie convinced C.W. to get). The elder Moss makes a deal with Hamer: in exchange for mercy for C.W., he sets a trap for the outlaws. When Bonnie and Clyde stop on the side of the road to help Mr. Moss fix a flat tire, as a nearby flock of birds flies away, the posse in the bushes guns the couple down. Hamer and his men come out of hiding and gather around the couple's bodies.