In April 1992, Chris McCandless arrives in a remote area called Healy, just north of Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Noting McCandless's unpreparedness, the man who drops him off gives him gumboots. McCandless sets up camp in an abandoned city bus that he calls "The Magic Bus". He is content with the isolation, the beauty of nature, and the thrill of living off the land. He hunts with a.22 rifle, reads books, and keeps a journal as he prepares his new life in the wild.

In 2035, the crew of the Ares III mission to Mars is exploring Acidalia Planitia on Martian solar day (sol) 18 of their 31-sol expedition. A severe dust storm threatens their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and in the ensuing evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney is struck by flying debris and presumed dead. Facing imminent peril, the remaining crew takes off for their orbiting vessel, the Hermes, which will then return them to Earth. Watney awakens after the storm, having narrowly survived his injuries. As he recovers within the crew's surface habitat ("Hab"), he begins a video diary to document his thoughts on survival. Unable to communicate with Earth, his only chance of rescue is the next Mars mission in four years, when Ares IV will land at the Schiaparelli crater. The Ares IV MAV has already arrived on the site in preparation for the mission. With this timeframe in mind, Watney's main survival concerns are food and travel. Being a botanist, he cultivates a potato garden inside the Hab using the crew's bio-waste with Martian soil, and creates water from leftover rocket fuel. He also modifies a crewed rover for the journey to Schiaparelli. On Earth, NASA satellite planner Mindy Park notices Watney's activity from recorded satellite images, and suspects he must be alive. NASA director Teddy Sanders releases the news to the public but decides not to inform the Ares III crew en route to Earth, over flight director Mitch Henderson's strong objection. Watney explores the surrounding terrain and studies his maps, but he quickly journeys out to retrieve the Pathfinder probe, hoping to restore its communications. Mars missions director Vincent Kapoor realizes this strategy, and quickly visits Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) director Bruce Ng to use their replica of the probe. The agency makes contact with Watney and instructs him to link Pathfinder to the rover, where he can now communicate by text. With this breakthrough, Henderson is finally allowed to inform Watney's crewmates. As Watney enters the Hab on one evening, a leak in the airlock causes an explosion that injures him and destroys the potato garden. Although he repairs the airlock, he is again threatened by starvation. NASA scrambles to procure a resupply ship for Watney, with Sanders ordering routine safety inspections bypassed to expedite the mission. This oversight results in catastrophe as the ship disintegrates shortly after launch. The China National Space Administration decides to offer a launch vehicle – originally intended for the Taiyang Shen space probe – to resupply Watney. Astrophysicist Rich Purnell devises an alternative plan: send the Taiyang Shen launcher to resupply the Hermes, which will then use Earth's gravity to " slingshot " back to Mars two years earlier than Ares IV. Sanders flatly rejects the idea, considering it too risky for the Ares III crew. Henderson surreptitiously sends the proposal to the crew, and they unanimously vote in favor and divert the Hermes. Sanders is forced to support them publicly, but demands Henderson's resignation after the mission. After waiting several months, Watney embarks on the long journey to the Ares IV MAV. He plans to use it to rendezvous with the Hermes, but needs to lighten the load considerably by partially dismantling the cockpit. He takes off to orbit, but the Hermes crew find that they remain too far away and moving too fast to retrieve him. Commander Lewis quickly improvises to explode the airlock in part of the ship, resulting in air violently escaping and slowing them down. Lewis also pilots a tethered Manned Maneuvering Unit to personally reach Watney, but they are still too far apart. Watney quickly improvises by piercing his pressure suit, and propels himself with the escaping air, reaches Lewis, and manages to hold on. NASA and spectators across the world all celebrate the successful rescue. After returning to Earth, Watney becomes a survival instructor for astronaut candidates. Five years later, as the Ares V is launching, those involved in Watney's rescue are seen in their current lives watching the launch footage.

In early 1950s Florida, decorated World War II veteran Lucas "Luke" Jackson drunkenly beheads several parking meters. He is sentenced to two years on a chain gang in a prison camp run by the Captain, a stern warden, and Walking Boss Godfrey, a quiet rifleman nicknamed "the man with no eyes" because he always wears mirrored sunglasses. There, even minor violations are punished by "a night in the box", a small wooden booth in the prison yard with limited air and space. Luke refuses to observe the established order among the prisoners and quickly runs afoul of their leader, Dragline. When the two have a boxing match, Luke is severely outmatched but refuses to acquiesce. Eventually, Dragline stops the fight, but Luke's tenacity earns the prisoners' respect and draws the guards' attention. Luke later wins a poker game by bluffing with a hand worth nothing. When Dragline points this out, Luke responds, "Yeah, well... sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand," and Dragline christens him "Cool Hand Luke". After a visit from his sick mother, Arletta, Luke becomes more optimistic about his situation. He repeatedly shows defiance to the Captain and the guards, and his sense of humor and independence prove inspiring to the other prisoners. Luke's struggle for supremacy peaks when he leads a work crew in a seemingly impossible but successful effort to complete a road-paving job in less than a day. The prisoners start to idolize him after he wins a bet that he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour. One evening, Luke receives notice that his mother has died. Anticipating that Luke might attempt to escape to attend the funeral, the Captain has him locked in the box. After being released, Luke becomes determined to escape. Under cover of a Fourth of July celebration, he makes his initial escape attempt. He is recaptured by local police and returned to the chain gang, where the Captain has Luke fitted with leg irons. When Luke talks back to the Captain, the Captain bludgeons Luke and declares, "What we've got here is failure to communicate." Shortly afterward, Luke escapes a second time. While free, Luke mails the prison a magazine that includes a photograph of himself with two beautiful women. Soon after, Luke is recaptured, returned to the prison camp, and fitted with two sets of leg irons. The Captain warns Luke that he will be killed if he ever attempts to escape again. Luke becomes annoyed by the other prisoners fawning over the magazine photo and says he faked it. At first, the other prisoners are angry, but when Luke returns after a long stay in the box and is punished by being forced to eat a massive serving of rice, the others help him finish it. For his escape, the guards brutalize Luke to the point of exhaustion, particularly when he is forced to repeatedly dig and refill a grave-sized hole in the prison yard. He eventually breaks down and begs for mercy, losing the respect of his fellow inmates. Luke seems to succumb to cowardice and become an errand boy for the guards, but when an opportunity presents itself, he flees again by stealing a truck, with Dragline joining him. After abandoning the truck, the pair agree to separate. Luke enters a church and talks to God, whom he blames for sabotaging him so he cannot win in life. Police cars appear moments later, and Dragline arrives to tell him that he will not be hurt if he surrenders peacefully. Instead, Luke mockingly repeats the Captain's warning speech at the police. Godfrey shoots him in the neck. Dragline carries Luke outside and surrenders, but charges at Godfrey and strangles him until he is subdued by the guards. While Luke is loaded into the Captain's car, Dragline tearfully implores him to live. Despite protests from local police, the Captain decides to take Luke to the distant prison infirmary instead of the local hospital, to ensure Luke will not survive the trip. A semi-conscious Luke weakly smiles as the car drives away. Some time later, the prison crew works near a rural intersection close to where Luke was shot, with Dragline now wearing leg irons and a new Walking Boss supervising. Dragline and the other prisoners fondly reminisce about Luke.

Charlie Simms is a scholarship student at Baird, an exclusive New England preparatory school. Karen Rossi hires him to watch her uncle, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, during Thanksgiving weekend. Charlie accepts so he can buy a plane ticket home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas. He meets Frank, a highly decorated, blind Vietnam War veteran who has become a cantankerous and cynical alcoholic. Charlie and student George Willis Jr. witness three classmates set up a prank to humiliate the headmaster, Mr. Trask, by dousing his prized automobile, a Jaguar XJ, with flour and water. Afterward, Trask learns of the witnesses and unsuccessfully presses them to name the perpetrators. He privately offers Charlie virtually guaranteed acceptance to Harvard University if he informs on the other students. Trask schedules a meeting of the school disciplinary committee to take place on the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend. Frank Slade unexpectedly takes Charlie on a trip to New York City and arranges their stay at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. During dinner in the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel, Frank reveals that the goals of his trip are to stay at a luxurious hotel, enjoy good food and wine, visit his older brother, and have sex with a "terrific" woman. Afterward, he intends to die by suicide. On Thanksgiving Day, they visit Frank's brother at his home in White Plains. Frank provokes everyone at dinner, which ends in a confrontation with his nephew Randy, who reveals that Frank was not blinded heroically in combat, but in an accident that occurred when he drunkenly juggled live grenades to show off for a group of younger officers. Frank assaults Randy for repeatedly calling Charlie "Chucky", a name Charlie despises, revealing Frank's growing affection for Charlie. As they return to the city, Charlie mentions his problem at school. Frank advises he turn informant, warning that George will probably submit to Trask's pressure, so he should act first so he can attend Harvard. While at The Pierre 's Cotillion Ballroom, Frank identifies the scent (Ogleby Sisters soap) of a young woman waiting for her date. He introduces himself and offers to teach her the tango. The evening ends with Frank having sex with a high-class escort, completing the stated objectives of his trip. Despondent the next morning, Frank is uninterested in any suggestions for the day until Charlie brings up going for a car ride. Frank talks a Ferrari salesman into letting them take a convertible for a test ride. When on the road, Frank becomes depressed again until Charlie allows him to drive. When they are pulled over by a policeman, Frank convinces the officer to let them go without revealing that he is blind. After returning the car, Frank again becomes despondent. He jaywalks into rushing traffic on Park Avenue and narrowly escapes being struck by multiple cars. When they return to the hotel, Frank sends Charlie to buy cigars. Charlie leaves but becomes suspicious and returns to find Frank donning his dress uniform and preparing to end his life with his service pistol. They scuffle briefly and Frank breaks down. He backs down after Charlie convinces him that he has much to live for and should courageously face his circumstances. On Monday morning, Charlie and George appear before the Baird disciplinary committee with the whole student body in attendance. Frank unexpectedly arrives and sits with Charlie. George Jr. provides tentative identifications but claims he was not wearing his contact lenses, so he cannot be positive. Charlie refuses to confirm George Jr.'s identification, so Trask recommends his expulsion. Frank gives a speech defending Charlie, denounces Baird for not living up to its own standards, and urges the committee to value Charlie's integrity. The disciplinary committee places the instigators on probation, denies George credit for naming them, and excuses Charlie from the proceedings. As Charlie escorts Frank to his limousine, political science professor Christine Downes, a member of the disciplinary committee, commends Frank for his speech. They flirt and he impresses her by recognizing her perfume. Charlie accompanies Frank home, where Frank happily greets his niece's children.

In 1981, San Francisco salesman Chris Gardner invests his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy improvement over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in Chris's life. While he can sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrages his wife, Linda, who works as a hotel maid. The economic instability increasingly erodes their marriage, despite caring for Christopher Jr., their soon-to-be five-year-old son. While out on a trip to sell one of his last scanners, Chris meets Jay Twistle, a lead manager and partner for Dean Witter Reynolds and impresses him by solving a Rubik's Cube during a taxi ride. After Jay leaves, Chris skips out on paying the fare as he lacks the money, causing the driver to angrily chase him into a BART station. Despite boarding a train, Chris loses one of his scanners in the process. However, Chris' new relationship with Jay earns him the chance to become an intern stockbroker. The day before the interview, Chris begrudgingly agrees to paint his apartment for free to postpone eviction by his landlord for late rent. However, two policemen arrive to arrest Chris for multiple unpaid parking tickets. Chris has to spend the night in jail, complicating his schedule for the interview the next day. Chris narrowly arrives at Dean Witter's office on time, albeit still in shabby, paint-splattered clothes. Despite his appearance, Chris still impresses the interviewers and lands a six-month unpaid internship. He is among 20 interns competing for a paid position as a stockbroker. Chris' unpaid internship does not please Linda, who leaves for New York since she might get a job at her sister's boyfriend's new restaurant. After Chris tells Linda she is incapable of being a single parent, she leaves Christopher in Chris' care. However, Chris is further set back when his already diminished bank account is garnished by the IRS for unpaid income taxes, and Chris and Christopher are evicted. With only $21.33 in his bank account, Chris and Christopher are left homeless and desperate; Chris is able to get a motel room, but the locks are then changed when he is unable to pay on time. They are forced at one point to stay in a restroom at a BART station. Other days, Chris and Christopher spend nights at a homeless shelter, in BART, or, if Chris manages to procure sufficient cash, at a hotel. Later, he finds the bone scanner that he lost in the BART station earlier. However, Chris found it damaged, yet he still manages to repair it by selling his own blood for money availability and after that sells it to a physician, thus completing all sales of his scanners. Disadvantaged by his limited work hours and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the broker position, Chris develops several ways to make sales calls more efficiently, including reaching out to potential high-value customers in person, a violation of firm protocol. One sympathetic prospect, Walter Ribbon, a top-level pension fund manager, even takes Chris and Christopher to a San Francisco 49ers game, where Chris meets some of Mr. Ribbon's friends, who are also potential clients. Regardless of his challenges, Chris never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, even going so far as to lend one of his supervisors, Mr. Frohm, five dollars in his wallet for cab fare. Chris also studies for and aces the stockbroker license exam although he doubts that he did well. As Chris concludes his last day of internship, he is summoned to a meeting with the partners. Mr. Frohm lets Chris know that he has won the coveted full-time position and reimburses Chris for the previous cab ride. Fighting back tears, he shakes hands with the partners, then rushes to Christopher's daycare to embrace him. They walk down a street and joke with each other. An epilogue reveals that Chris went on to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm in 1987 and sold a minority stake in it in a multi-million-dollar deal in 2006.

"The Zone" is a huge tract of open land where the normal laws of physics supposedly do not apply, containing supernatural hazards. At the heart of the Zone lies a "Room" that is said to grant the wishes of anyone who steps inside. The government has fenced off the Zone, subjecting "Stalkers", people who illegally guide others through the Zone, to harsh prison time if caught crossing the border. One Stalker has just returned from a long prison sentence to his wife and daughter. To his wife's horror, a disaffected writer and a physics professor immediately hire the Stalker to take them through the Zone. Needing the money, he meets the Writer and Professor in a rundown bar-café, warning them that they must do what he says to survive the dangers that lie ahead. He explains that the Zone is a living thing that visitors must respect. The trio evades the Zone's military guards by following a train through the gate, riding through the Zone's vast wilderness on a railway work car. The Zone contains such human remnants as old abandoned industrial facilities, corpses, guns, and tanks. The Stalker cautiously tests for anomalies as they painstakingly make their way toward the Room, though nothing unusual occurs. The three men discuss their reasons for wanting to visit the Room as they travel: the Writer fears losing his inspiration, the calm Professor hopes to analyze the Zone in order to win a Nobel Prize, and the Stalker insists he has no motive beyond the altruistic aim of aiding the desperate to their desires. He mentions that his mentor, another Stalker named "Porcupine", obtained great riches by entering the Room but then hanged himself when he returned home. The trio draw lots to determine that the Writer will go first through an especially long, dark, ominous passageway that the Stalker calls the "meat grinder". Nervously, the Writer passes through without harm, shocking the Stalker, who reveals that the meat grinder kills anyone the Zone deems morally unworthy. The Writer forges ahead and delivers a soliloquy directly to camera about the futility of knowledge and feeling overwhelmed and criticized by other people. He returns to the others, and the Stalker reveals that Porcupine sent a brother ahead of him into the meat grinder, where the brother was killed. The Stalker then recites a poem about never being satisfied, and the Writer rages at the Stalker for assuming he was morally unworthy. Suddenly, a phone in the antechamber rings. The surprised Professor uses it to call an old enemy scientist, gloating about finding the Room. As the trio prepare to enter the Room, the Professor reveals his true intentions: he has brought a 20-kiloton bomb in his backpack to destroy the Room and therefore prevent evil men from abusing it for gain. He blames the Room, the Stalkers, and their clients for the recent rise of crime, political strife, and destructive science. After a brief scuffle over the bomb, the Stalker weeps, claiming that only the Room has given him meaning in his otherwise pitiful life and that it is the last beacon of hope for humanity. The Writer deduces that the Stalker's mentor Porcupine hanged himself because of the guilt the Room caused him when it presented him with riches rather than the return of his deceased brother, showing that Porcupine subconsciously cared more about wealth than love. Thus, the Room's ability to grant one's deepest and most secret desire additionally provides a window into the morality of one's soul. The Writer suggests that it is impossible to use the Room for selfish reasons because nobody can know their deepest subconscious desires. The Professor's fears soothed, he dismantles the bomb. The three men sit just outside the Room in silence; none attempt to enter it. The Stalker, the Writer, and the Professor are met back outside the Zone at the bar-café by the Stalker's wife and daughter. The Stalker returns home in total distress, lamenting to his wife how humanity has lost its capacity for faith, which is needed to traverse the Zone and live a good life. As the Stalker sleeps, his wife contemplates their relationship in a soliloquy delivered to the camera. She says that she would prefer an interesting life of hardship over an easy, boring one. The couple's daughter sits alone, while a love poem by Fyodor Tyutchev is recited through voice-over. The girl appears to use psychokinesis to push three drinking glasses across the table, a train shakes the room as it passes by, and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" is heard.

In 1997, Captain Roberto Nascimento of the Battalion of Special Police Operations (BOPE) leads an operation to secure the Turano neighbourhood before Pope John Paul II 's overnight visit at the Archbishop 's home near the favela. He searches for a successor at the unit in order to switch to a desk job before his pregnant wife Rosane gives birth to his son. Rookie PMERJ officers and best friends André Matias and Neto Gouveia handle menial work as instructed to them by their corrupt seniors: Neto supervises the police auto mechanic shop, whilst Matias is responsible for registering and filing police complaints in a small archive office. André also attends law school, where he begins a relationship with Maria, and meets her friends Roberta and Edu; all three are members of a NGO that operates in an area ruled by drug lord Baiano. Baiano provides marijuana to Matias' friends, who sell it on campus. André also befriends Romerito, a boy who, like himself, suffers from myopia. Neto applies to another department, but his transfer is denied. Disgusted by corruption and led by fellow officer Fábio, Neto and André steal the police's bribe money to fix as many police cars as possible. Their superior, Captain Oliveira, finds out and demotes them to kitchen work as punishment and orders Fábio—who he believes stole from him—to meet drug traffickers at a community funk party in Morro da Babilônia to enquire about payment. Fábio believes this is a set-up to kill him and discreetly warns Neto and André, who rush to a vantage point and, presuming Fabio will be shot by another officer, accidentally fire a sniper rifle, causing a deadly gunfight between the officers and traffickers; as André and Neto attempt to flee the scene, Nascimento and his men arrive and rescue all the officers. After the shootout, André is photographed by the press. André and Neto apply for BOPE, motivated by their honesty and devotion, and eagerness for action. At the NGO office, Baiano confronts Maria and her friends with a newspaper featuring André's picture and threatens to kill them if they bring policemen inside his territory. The BOPE training proves to be gruesome, both as a way to weed out weak candidates, and also to terrorize and force out known corrupt police officers. Many candidates quit — including Fábio (who applied as a way to avoid Oliveira) — but both Neto and André successfully pass; Neto celebrates by getting a BOPE tattoo on his arm. André's relationship with Maria ends and he confronts Edu, ordering him to arrange a meet with Romerito the next day to give him a pair of glasses. Edu reveals André's plan to Baiano, who sets an ambush to kill him. Neto informs André of a job interview at a law firm that will conflict with meeting Romerito, and volunteers to deliver the glasses in his place: this results in Neto being mortally wounded. When Baiano prepares to finish him, he notices his BOPE tattoo and goes into hiding for fear of retaliation, but not before abducting and executing Roberta and Rodriguez as his payback for allowing a BOPE officer into the slum. After Neto's funeral, André, Nascimento and other BOPE officers make daily incursions into Baiano's slum, torturing several dealers into revealing his whereabouts; when one of them reveals Edu tipped Baiano, an enraged Matias storms into a peace walk, beats Edu, and insults Maria and the others. BOPE interrogates several of the locals before finally locating and cornering Baiano; due to Baiano's pleas to not hurt his face for the wake, Nascimento orders André to summarily execute him with a shotgun shot to the face, both as revenge for Neto's death and as a final rite of passage for BOPE. André cocks the gun and the screen fades to white as the shot is heard.

A recently promoted police inspector, nicknamed "Il Dottore" ("the Doctor", an Italian honorific) kills his mistress, and then covers up his involvement in the crime. He insinuates himself into the investigation, planting clues to steer his subordinate officers toward a series of other suspects, including the woman's gay husband and a student leftist radical. He then exonerates the other suspects and leads the investigators toward himself to prove that he is "above suspicion" and can get away with anything, even while being investigated. His personal neurosis caused by his extreme position of power, and his firm beliefs in the role of authority, eventually drive him to try to accuse himself with every possible evidence. The only witness of his presence at the victim's apartment, the anarchist Antonio Pace, refuses to accuse him to be able to prove the inherent criminal nature of power ("A criminal leading the repression, it is perfect!"). The Doctor eventually desperately confesses to the crime in front of his superiors, in an effort to not subvert the essence of authority, but they all refuse to believe him, forcing him to recant his confession, with the approval of the police commissioner. The interrogation at his home is revealed to be a dream sequence, and when he wakes up the commissioner and other colleagues actually arrive at his place; however, the outcome of their confrontation is not revealed, and the film ends with a quote by Franz Kafka about the paradoxical nature of power.

In the 1960s Dashrath Manjhi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) lived in a small village Gehlaur near Gaya, Bihar, India with his family including his wife Phaguniya Devi (Radhika Apte) and his son. There was a rocky mountain near his village that people either had to climb across or travel round to gain access to medical care at the nearest town Wazirganj. One day Manjhi's wife (when pregnant) fell while trying to cross the mountain and eventually died giving birth to a girl, after which Manjhi decided to carve a road through it. When he started hammering the hill people called him a lunatic but that only steeled his resolve further. After 22 years of back-breaking labour, Manjhi carved a path 360 feet long, 25 feet deep in places and 30 feet wide. Manjhi died in 2007. The film's postscript states that 52 years after he started breaking the mountain, 30 years after he finished and 4 years after his death the government finally made a metalled road to Gehlaur in 2011.He fought with the Indian government for the development of their village and for the availability of hospitals and road.

In a fictional outcome for the 2015 Canadian federal election, a political party comes to power and establishes a law called S-14. This legislation allows parents of troubled children with limited finances to place their children in hospitals, without regard for fundamental justice. Diane "Die" Després, a widowed mother and 46-year-old advice columnist, picks up her son Steve from an institution. Steve, who has ADHD and an attachment disorder, was being discharged after starting a fire in which another youth was injured. Die brings Steve to their new home in Saint-Hubert and struggles to care for him under financial distress. When Steve gives her a cart full of groceries and a necklace reading "Mommy", Die suspects that he has stolen the items. Enraged by the accusation, Steve begins choking her, and she defends herself by hitting him with a glass frame. Whilst chaos ensues, Kyla, a neighbour and teacher on sabbatical, shows up to tend to Steve's wounds. Kyla, who is dealing with a stuttering problem and recently moved into the area with her husband and daughter, begins to tutor Steve. After a disastrous tutoring session where Steve goads Kyla, she snaps and attacks him. After the confrontation, Steve mellows and indicates he is glad to know her and respects her boundaries and expectations. Kyla notes Steve reminds her of her late son. The three have bonded and their situation improves: Die has a cleaning job and translation work on the side, Kyla's speech problem is resolving, and Steve is receiving better marks on his school work. All is looking up, until Die is served papers by the parents of the injured boy, indicating she and Steve are being sued for the injuries caused by his fire. Die finds a lawyer, a neighbour and a potential love interest, who is willing to help them with Steve's case. The three of them go out to a karaoke restaurant for the evening. Over the night, Steve is increasingly agitated by the atmosphere and what he sees as his mother's sexual interest in the lawyer. Steve decides to sing, but is taunted by the audience, leading to a fight. They are thrown out. Steve, Die and their lawyer argue, ending with Die slapping the lawyer in retaliation for him slapping Steve, driving the lawyer away. Die in turn shouts at Steve for continually being an issue in her life, whereupon Steve runs away. He returns the following morning. Die continues to try and help her son and rebuild their lives, but while out shopping with Steve and Kyla, Steve disappears. He is found by Kyla after slitting his wrists. Although he survives, Die comes to realise she is running out of options. One day Die and Kyla surprise Steve with a picnic, and on the drive Die finds herself reflecting on all the dreams she had for her son to live a fulfilled, happy life. The trio end up not at a picnic site as the faux ending implies, but at a hospital to commit Steve under S-14. Upon realising the deception by the two women, Steve angrily resists attempts to apprehend him by hospital staff. Die begins to regret the decision when she helplessly watches the officials use violence and tasers to subdue him. Kyla announces she is moving to Toronto and Die encourages her. Kyla is relieved Die is not upset. While explaining how much she enjoyed her time with Die and Steve, she accidentally makes a faux-pas about 'abandoning her family'. Die responds that she holds on to hope that her life and the life she envisages for her son will come to fruition. Kyla returns home as Die privately breaks down in tears. While preparing dinner and doing translation work, Die misses a phone call from Steve. Back at the hospital, Steve, restrained in a straitjacket, apologises to his mother in a voicemail. Immediately after the straps of his jacket are removed by two officials, Steve runs full speed towards a large, bright window.

Thirteen years after the events of the first film, BOPE Lieutenant Colonel (formerly Captain) Nascimento is ambushed while leaving a hospital. While his car is sprayed with bullets, his voiceover narrates the events leading to that point. Four years prior, Nascimento arrives at Bangu Penitentiary Complex to quell a riot started by gangleader Beirada. Diogo Fraga, a teacher and human rights activist married to Nascimento's ex-wife Rosane, was sent to negotiate for a peaceful surrender. Fraga is escorted to the place and convinces Beirada to release the hostages, but Nascimento's protégé, Captain André Matias, shoots Beirada against Nascimento's orders, which results in multiple inmate deaths. Nascimento learns that PMERJ commander Formoso plans to dismiss him due to the bad publicity and confronts him in a restaurant, only to be cheered by other diners for his tough line. Rio de Janeiro 's State Secretary for Public Safety Guaracy seizes the opportunity and promotes Nascimento as undersecretary, but transfers Matias back to the PMERJ as a scapegoat. Despite Nascimento's promises to help him, Matias speaks to journalist Clara Vidal about corruption in the government and lack of support to BOPE, leading to a month of jail and his estrangement from Nascimento. Meanwhile, Fraga is elected to Rio's State Assembly. Through his new commanding position, Nascimento is able to expand BOPE's arsenal and personnel, granting it armored vehicles and a helicopter, which enables the force to eliminate entire drug cartels from favelas, in hope it will reduce police corruption. However, the absence of drug dealing as a controlling parallel power in these areas leads corrupt PMERJ Major Rocha and his men to form a police militia, ultimately taking over the community by extorting the inhabitants while also building a political machine, with support from the State Governor, Guaracy and Fortunato, a former television host now elected Representative for Rio. Four years later, Rocha's militia has nearly taken over all of Western Rio. Disguised militiamen steal rifles from a police station in Tanque, one of the last drug dealing strongholds, providing their corrupt allies an excuse to authorize a police operation to expel the drug dealers (consequently clearing the way for the militia to take over). Nascimento listens to phonetaps of dealers and assures Guaracy they are uninvolved; however, corrupt Lieutenant-Colonel Fabio Barbosa claims an informant has implicated them and the raid is authorized. Matias, returned to BOPE by Rocha, occupies the station and ambushes the fleeing dealers, torturing captured drugleader Pepa to learn where the stolen weapons are. As Rocha arrives and inexplicably shoots Pepa, Matias confronts him, but is shot and killed by Rocha's men. Devastated by Matias' death and aware Fraga has been investigating the militia, Nascimento taps his phone. Vidal, also investigating, enters one of Rocha's favelas and finds the Governor's re-election campaign material. She phones Fraga but is caught by Rocha's group, who kill her and her photographer. Nascimento listens to the call, realizes Fraga is now a target, takes the recording and goes after him; as he waits outside Fraga's building, Fraga, Rafael and Rosane arrive and are attacked in a drive-by shooting. Nascimento shoots the assailant, but Rafael is wounded. They take him to the hospital and Nascimento hands the recording to Fraga, whereupon he detains and assaults Guaracy, threatening to kill everyone involved if his son dies. The Assembly opens an investigation into the journalists' disappearances based on the recording delivered by Fraga. However, Nascimento is accused of tapping Fraga's phone to spy on Rosane, forcing his resignation. Believing his militia will be scapegoats, Rocha attempts to ambush him after a visit to Rafael; however, Nascimento, expecting an attack, is aided by BOPE officers. They shoot some of the assailants, but Rocha escapes. Nascimento is called to testify and implicates the Governor, Guaracy, Fortunato and many other individuals, as many of them are murdered to prevent them from testifying. The Governor, however, is re-elected and Guaracy becomes representative for Rio. The final scene shows Nascimento reflecting over the political scenario in Brazil and stating that "as long as the conditions for the system remain, it will remain". He visits Rafael as he slowly wakes from his coma.