The film follows multiple loosely related narratives, each pertaining to the three Jordan sisters and those within their sphere of influence. Trish Maplewood, the eldest Jordan sister, is a housewife who lives an upper middle class life. She is married to psychiatrist Bill Maplewood and has three children. Trish is unaware of Bill's secret life as a pedophile who is obsessed with 11-year-old Johnny Grasso, a classmate of their son, Billy. When Johnny comes to the Jordan house for a sleepover, Bill drugs and rapes him. Later, Bill learns that another boy, Ronald Farber, is home alone while his parents are away in Europe. Under the guise of attending a PTA meeting, Bill drives to the boy's house and rapes him as well. After Johnny is taken to the hospital and found to have been sexually abused, the police arrive at the Maplewood residence to question Bill and his wife. Bill mistakenly asks the officers if this is about Ronald Farber, even though the police only mentioned Johnny's name when they arrived, inadvertently implicating himself in an as-yet unknown crime. The next morning the family awakens to the words "serial rapist" and "pervert" spray painted on their house. After school, Billy questions his dad about the things being said at school, and Bill admits that he raped the boys, that he enjoyed it, and that he would do it again. When Billy asks if he would ever rape him, his father tearfully replies, "No. I'd jerk off instead." Trish packs her family into the car the next morning, leaving for her parents' condo in Florida. Helen Jordan, the middle sister, is a successful author who is adored and envied by everyone she knows. However, her charmed life leaves her ultimately unfulfilled, she despairs that no one wants her for herself, and that the praise regularly heaped upon her is undeserved. She is fascinated by an unknown man who makes obscene phone calls to her apartment and tries to seek out a relationship with him. The man, her neighbor Allen, routinely makes obscene phone calls threatening to sexually assault women for his own gratification, but proves unable to actually touch Helen when given the opportunity to make good on his promises. Allen, who is coincidentally one of Bill's patients, begins a friendship with Kristina, who lives in the same apartment block down the hall. While on a date, Kristina tells him that she killed the apartment doorman after he raped her. Joy, the youngest sister, is overly sensitive, having been repeatedly criticized by her overbearing sisters, and lacking direction. She tearfully breaks up with her boyfriend and coworker, Andy, who reveals and keeps a custom gift he had made for her, calling her shallow. A few days later, he kills himself, and Joy quits her telephone sales job and leaves to do something more fulfilling. She gets hired as a scab worker, teaching at an immigrant-education center. Her students do not like her, and she begins to feel empty in that job as well. Helen tries to set her up with other men. Expecting to hear from a suitor, she instead gets an obscene call from Allen. Later, one of her Russian students, Vlad, offers her a ride in his taxi, and they end up having sex. She is initially smitten, but she soon realizes Vlad was using her and that he may be married. After being attacked by someone she thinks is his wife at the school, she goes to his apartment to make amends. There she discovers the woman is not his wife after all, even though they live together. In Vlad's apartment, Joy sees her missing guitar and CD player. Vlad coerces her into lending him $500 in exchange for her stolen belongings, and Joy quits her job. Finally, the sisters' parents, Mona and Lenny, are separating after 40 years of marriage, but will not get divorced. Lenny is bored with his marriage, but does not want to start another relationship; he simply "wants to be alone." As Mona copes with being single during her twilight years, Lenny tries to rekindle his enthusiasm for life by having an affair with a neighbor. It is no use, however, as Lenny eventually finds that he has become incapable of feeling. In the final scene, the Jordan family is united in Mona and Lenny's condo. Helen resolves to set Joy up with Allen, and is finally inspired to write a new piece after hearing about Kristina's killing of the doorman. Trish does not acknowledge Bill's actions, still acting as if everything is normal. Mona and Lenny trade barbs from across the table. Billy achieves an orgasm for the first time on the balcony while looking at a woman sunbathing. Due to his father's grooming, he proudly declares this to his family.

The first part focuses on the events of the early days of the French Revolution. The film opens in 1774 with a young Maximillien Robespierre reading a document in front of King Louis XV 's carriage in the College Louis le Grand. He is splashed with mud after a horse's hoof smacks the muddy ground, prompting his classmates to laugh at him. Robespierre's classmate, Camille Desmoulins, comforts and reassures Robespierre. The film jumps 15 years later at the calling of the Estates General of 1789, which proves to be a disaster as many members of the Third Estate had sworn an oath on 20 June 1789 to not stop convening as a committee until they are given more rights. In response, King Louis XVI closes the assembly. In a private lunch following the incident, Marie Antoinette gives Louis a few ideas, such as using force should the people refuse the King's demands. Meanwhile, many orators rouse the people to demand for change. The situation only worsens after King Louis XVI accepts the resignation of finance minister Jacques Necker, a friend and popular figure of the people, who then returns to Switzerland. Desmoulins arrives at the Palais-Royal and delivers the news on 12 July, along with an impassioned call to arms to the crowd to defend themselves against Swiss and German troops who would attack them. When Desmoulins' friend and colleague Georges Danton hears the news and then learns of troops already attacking citizens during efforts to get them to disperse, he delivers a fiery speech at Paris' Cordeliers Convent asking every man in the district to volunteer to fight and proclaiming that they will not allow tyranny to triumph over liberty. On 14 July 1789, revolutionaries gather at the Bastille prison, seeking weapons and gunpowder for their revolutionary cause. A battle ensues between Revolutionary forces and the prison's garrison, headed by the Marquis de Launay, where the Revolutionaries emerge victorious after a bloody struggle and tense negotiations. Launay is lynched and his head stuck on a pike, the revolutionaries dancing " La Carmagnole " around it in celebration. Louis XVI arrives at Paris while the Marquis de Lafayette reads the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen out to the National Assembly as people from all corners of France read it for themselves or hear it. At the start of October, in the middle of a severe bread shortage, Versailles holds a welcoming banquet for Flanders Regiment officers after they arrive to defend the palace as a precaution. When word reaches Paris, Danton is enraged, and on 4 October, dictates a leaflet in the presence of Desmoulins to be printed and posted on the city walls, which calls the banquet an insult to liberty and also calls for insurrection. The day after the missive is sent, thousands of women march to demand bread and then turn towards Versailles, and male revolutionaries also join after Danton exhorts them to do so as a matter of honor and to protect what they have won. The women storm the palace, overpowering the guards but stopping short of the King and Queen, protected by guards and soldiers. After the mob demands that the King appear on the balcony to prove he hasn't left and abandoned the people, Louis XVI appears on the balcony, followed by his wife, Marie Antoinette. As the mob prepares to shoot her, she kneels down, pleading forgiveness, and the mob relents, shouting "God save the Queen!". Afterward, Louis meets with inventor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, and is presented with a model of a new execution device he names the Guillotine. At first, Guillotin proposes a crescent-shaped blade, but Louis, who claims he is experienced with mechanics, proposes a triangular blade instead, and designed like a saw, to Guillotin's delight. Meanwhile, Danton starts his own political newspaper. A few days later, a celebration is held at the Champ de Mars, known today as the Fête de la Fédération. Some of those in the masses are Danton, Maximilien Robespierre, and many other revolutionaries. Lafayette and the people swear an oath of faith and loyalty to France. Soon afterwards, a mutiny in the Nancy garrison is quickly put down, many being beaten publicly to death or hanged. In a speech before the National Assembly, Danton demands the resignation of the Interior Minister, Minister of War, the Monsieur de la Tour du Pin, and many others, to the support and agreement from many delegates present. Soon afterwards, riots against the clergy are incited due to their continued monarchist sentiment, and many attacks against clergymen, churches, cathedrals, and monasteries occur across France. Baptism is mocked, and organists are forced to play revolutionary music on the organ. Subsequently, Lafayette signs an edict demanding the arrest of all Revolutionaries in the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the royal family flees Paris, hoping to reach the Austrian Netherlands disguised as servants. However, they are identified by an innkeeper at Varennes, and returned to Paris. Speakers around France demand that Louis XVI be stripped of his royal title as King of France and be reduced to merely "Citizen Louis Capet". The Mayor of Paris, Jean Sylvain Bailly, is forced to declare martial law after Danton and his supporters gather at the Champ de Mars. Initially dispersed by the National Guard, they return on 17 July 1791, gathering souvenirs, banners and flags. However, the National Guard also returns, and after the soldiers fire a warning shot above the heads of the civilians, the crowd begins to throw stones and other objects at the soldiers. Taking this as a sign of hostility, Bailly orders his troops to open fire, despite Lafayette's efforts to maintain peace between both sides. The resulting massacre is a bloodbath, with dozens dead or wounded. The survivors quickly scatter, and this only worsens the situation. A few weeks later, Louis XVI and the National Assembly declare war on the great powers of Europe, but Robespierre knows that the campaign will be a disaster, and his prediction initially proves to be true. French troops march on the Belgian frontier, but are quickly annihilated by forces of Prussia and Austria, and a French general is killed by his own soldiers. Jean-Paul Marat demands that "ten thousand heads must fall here in France." The Duke of Brunswick issues a manifesto demanding that France surrender, or he will "burn Paris to the ground." Another call to action is given at the National Assembly, with Robespierre again certain that the next campaign will be a disaster. While French soldiers make their way to the front, they are given provisions in the towns they enter, and sing a new song: " La Marseillaise ". On 10 August, thousands of Revolutionaries surround the Tuileries Palace. Initially, the National Guard are ordered to defend the palace, but unwilling to fire upon their fellow brethren, they switch sides and point cannons at the palace. An armed standoff takes place, where Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the rest of the nobility are escorted out of the Palace for refuge in the meeting place of the National Assembly, where the children watch the proceedings. Back at the Tuileries, the insurrectionists break through the Palace gates, and an intense firefight ensues between the Swiss Guards and the revolutionaries. Despite the Swiss Guards' best efforts, and heavy losses sustained by the Revolutionaries, the Palace is taken. Louis then tells his son that "there is no longer a King in France". The second part focuses on the aftermath of the 10 August Insurrection and the Reign of Terror. On 13 August, 1792 Louis XVI and his family arrive at the Temple, a fortress and prison, where they would remain as prisoners until their sentence. With the King deposed and Danton serving as Justice Minister, Desmoulins believes that everything they have done in the Revolution is over and they can finally rest, but Robespierre overrules this by pointing out it could only be the beginning. Lafayette then is forced to step down from his position as commander of the Army of the North and is later taken prisoner by the Allies. As Prussian forces advance closer to Paris, desperate measures are taken by Danton and his associates. Death warrants are issued against purported enemies of the Revolutionary forces, with many thronging the steps pleading for Danton to spare a relative, or a friend. Meanwhile, Prussian troops ransack cities and continue to annihilate the French armies in the field. The September Massacres slaughter thousands of nobles and anyone suspected of loyalty to the monarchy. Not even Marie Antoinette's lady-in-waiting, the Princesse de Lamballe, is spared, and her head is shown to Marie Antoinette, who collapses on the floor, sobbing. On 20 September, French forces fight and emerge victorious over the Prussians at the Battle of Valmy, and celebrations ring out throughout France and the National Assembly. Louis XVI is brought before the National Assembly to stand trial for treason after Louis Antoine de Saint-Just demands his execution. Louis denies the charges brought against him, and when the topic of the Swiss Guards is brought up, Louis responds that he doubled the guards for his own safety, then denying that he caused the bloodshed on August 10 and that there were no armories in the Tuileries at the time. The next day, Louis declares before the assembly that his conscience is clear, and that the worse thing that wounded his heart were the accusations that he had shed the blood of the people. Later that night, the court votes to execute Louis. On 2 January, Louis is brought to the scaffold in a closed carriage. He attempts to make a speech to the crowd, but is drowned out mid-speech by drums ordered to sound by the commander. Louis is then beheaded by the guillotine to cheers from the previously-silent crowd. Shortly afterwards, his own son, Louis Charles, is taken by soldiers to be tutored by a man named Citizen Simon, much to the dismay of Marie Antoinette. Robespierre confers with Danton and considers a new Revolutionary Tribunal, despite them being branded as dictators. Marat is brought before the tribunal on charges of inciting public hysteria and is acquitted, as Danton knew he would be. However, Danton drives out the Girondins from his office, including Brissot. In another conference with Robespierre, Danton announces that he wants Brissot executed. Armed citizens surround the Convention and drive out Brissot and his supporters. Soon after, a young woman named Charlotte Corday hears a speech criticizing and denouncing Marat, and decides to act. She manages to get into Marat's room and stabs him whilst he is writing for a newspaper in his bathtub, killing him instantly. During Marat's funeral, Robespierre proposes new granaries for the starving populace to resounding support (Corday is afterward executed offscreen). On 15 October 1793, Marie Antoinette is escorted by her guards to the Revolutionary Tribunal for her trial. She is asked by the court on who provided the carriage for their flight to Varennes, where she replies with Count Alex von Fersen. Jacques Hébert then testifies before the court that whilst he was interrogating Citizen Simon, the latter had said he had seen the boy do "indecent and harmful acts", and then questioned him on who had taught him these things, to the young Capet admitting it was his mother and aunt, also admitting he had been forced to sleep with both of them, and that they "committed acts of debauchery", to which Marie Antoinette responds with an emotional appeal to all mothers in the room, crying out that "Nature itself reels from such an accusation". Antoinette is then convicted and condemned to death, and is executed the next day on October 16. Marie maintains great dignity and courage during her execution. Saint-Just makes a speech before the Convention and declares that "Terror is the order of the day." The next day, Saint-Just and Robespierre witness the execution of Brissot and his supporters. Danton is remarried (after the death of his old wife a few months earlier). Danton later gives a speech in front of the Convention, calling it a "den of faction, lies, and insanity", seeing churches desecrated outside, and asks, "is this the Republic we wanted to create?" He then demands that a "Committee of Clemency" be established, and receives support and applause from many in the audience and in the Convention, even from Robespierre himself, to the surprise of those near him. Hébert has great concern for the possible comeback of Danton, and expresses his need to "use every weapon against him". Hébert then denounces Danton via newspaper, and later to a crowd, accusing him of treason and having betrayed the Revolution. Robespierre then appears and asks for a Committee to investigate Danton's career and integrity, and declares the accusations false and fraudulent, saving Danton's life in the process. Hébert then incites his followers to insurrection. The Committee of Public Safety then unanimously votes for the arrest of Hébert, and he is arrested (later executed, also offscreen). The Committee of Public Safety debates on Danton's situation, and decide on his immediate arrest. Danton later tells one of his associates that even if there were a trial, he would win. Danton and Camille are both arrested. Danton's trial is chaotic, with the stands and seats full of his supporters, as well as the jury being hand-picked to ensure he is convicted. At a local play, Robespierre is discovered by the actors and the audience quickly shouts for his downfall. Saint-Just finds a letter uncovering a conspiracy between Desmoulins' wife Lucile with some aristocrats to free Camille and Danton. The Committee decides to present it as a testimony of Desmoulins and Danton's treachery, and Camille's wife is arrested. The next day, the evidence is presented, and Danton and his supporters are condemned to death and executed. As they are led out of the courtroom, the audience, who is supportive of Danton, sings La Marseillaise. Desmoulins' wife is also executed a few days later. Robespierre holds the Festival of the Supreme Being on 8 June 1794. Initially, the festival is triumphant and majestic, but it proves to be a disaster. Robespierre speaks for so long that some in the crowd start sleeping. Some even murmur that Robespierre thinks he's either the Pope or God Himself. When Robespierre declares that the Supreme Being's religion is Virtue, someone in the crowd yells that Robespierre's is Murder. As Robespierre's speech goes on, the crowd starts to be more aggressive to him and many begin to leave, either discontented with the contents of Robespierre's speech or simply bored of the entire thing. The Committee starts denouncing Robespierre, saying that he has "executed more people in the last two months than in the last two years", although he is defended by ardent supporters such as Saint-Just. The Committee decides that things have gone too far and plot to bring an end to Robespierre. At the Convention, Robespierre makes a speech detailing his situation, from his perspective, to his hearers, whilst his political enemies decide to stop him in his tracks on that day. Robespierre's opponents then demand that he read out the names of those he accused as Robespierre finishes his speech. When Robespierre refuses, the Convention denounces him a tyrant and unanimously votes for his execution. Robespierre and his supporters take refuge in the Hôtel de Ville, Paris and organize a defense of the building. The Convention musters a large force to storm the building and take Robespierre prisoner, whilst Robespierre's followers, led by a drunken general, barricade themselves in the building. A cannon brings down the barricaded door, and a brief skirmish ensues between forces of the National Guard and Robespierre. The doors to the main room are broken down and a large scuffle ensues, with Robespierre himself accidentally shooting himself in the jaw after being tackled to the floor, following an attempt to shoot a soldier targeting him. Robespierre and his supporters are all arrested and await execution. The next day, Robespierre, Saint-Just, and other prominent Robespierrists are taken to the Place de la Révolution and guillotined, effectively marking the end of the Reign of Terror. In the closing scene, family members of some of the leading revolutionaries light candles in a church, before leaving.

In the near future, a newly created device called the DC Mini allows users to view people's dreams. The head of the team working on this treatment, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, begins using the machine illegally to help psychiatric patients outside the research facility by assuming her dream world alter-ego, a detective named Paprika. Atsuko's closest allies are Dr. Toratarō Shima, the chief of the department, and Dr. Kōsaku Tokita, the inventor of the DC Mini. Paprika counsels a detective named Toshimi Konakawa, who is plagued by a recurring dream regarding an unknown former colleague and a victim in a homicide case he is investigating. She gives Toshimi a card with the name of a website on it, which leads him into a bar where he is able to meet Paprika, who compares the Internet to dreams. In a meeting with the company chairman, Dr. Seijirō Inui, to discuss the theft of three DC Mini prototypes, Toratarō goes on a nonsensical tirade and jumps through a window, nearly killing himself. Upon examining Toratarō's dream, which is a parade of random objects, Kōsaku recognizes his assistant, Kei Himuro, which confirms their suspicion that the theft was an inside job. While investigating Himuro's home, Atsuko ignores the warnings that Paprika gives her, and accidentally slips into a dream space, which, due to her frequent use of the DC Mini, can now affect her constantly. Atsuko almost dies, after ignoring another warning by Paprika, but is rescued by her co-investigators. When two other scientists fall victim to the DC Mini, Seijirō bans the use of the device. This fails to hinder the crazed parade, now inside Himuro's dream, which claims Kōsaku. Paprika and Toratarō discover that Himuro is only an empty shell. The real culprit is Seijirō, who believes that he must protect dreams from humankind's influence through dream therapy, with the help of Dr. Morio Osanai. Investigating the demise of the two scientists, Toshimi meets with Atsuko, Toratarō, and Kōsaku. Leaving the meeting, he has an anxiety attack. In an emergency session with Paprika, she reveals the scenes in his dreams each correspond to genres of movies. The parade bursts into Toshimi's dream, prompting Paprika to leave the session to help Kōsaku in Himuro's dream. Paprika is captured by Seijirō and Morio, who obsessively confesses his love for Atsuko and peels away Paprika's skin to reveal Atsuko underneath. However, he is interrupted by the outraged Seijirō, who demands that they finish off Atsuko. Meanwhile in his dream at the bar, Toshimi learns his recurring dream is based in anxiety over the illness and death of his colleague from his youth whose memory he'd repressed, with whom he aspired to be a film director. Resolving his anxieties, Toshimi finds and enters Himuro's dream and flees with Atsuko back into his own dream. Morio gives chase, which ends in Toshimi shooting Morio. The act kills Morio's physical body in the real world. Dreams and reality begin to merge. The dream parade runs amok in the city, and reality starts to unravel. Toratarō is nearly killed by a giant doll, but is saved by Paprika, who now appears as a fully separate entity from Atsuko. Amidst the chaos, Kōsaku, in the form of a giant robot, eats Atsuko and prepares to do the same to Paprika. Seijirō, in a megalomaniacal delirium, returns in the form of a giant humanoid nightmare and threatens to darken the world with his delusions. Paprika throws herself into Kōsaku's body. A baby emerges from the robotic shell and consumes Seijirō, aging into a fully-grown combination of Atsuko and Paprika as she does so, then fades away, ending the nightmare. In the real world, Atsuko sits at Kōsaku's bedside as he wakes up. Toshimi later visits the website from Paprika's card and receives a message from Paprika, suggesting the film Dreaming Kids to him. He enters a cinema and purchases a ticket for Dreaming Kids.

In 1967, Burt Munro is a sort of folk hero in Invercargill, known for his friendly easy-going personality, for having the fastest motorcycle in New Zealand and Australia, and for being featured in Popular Mechanics magazine. However, that recognition is contrasted by his exasperated next-door neighbours, some of whom are fed up with his un-neighbourly habits, such as revving his motorcycle early in the morning, urinating on his lemon tree and not mowing his grass. Burt, however, has a long-time dream; to travel to the US and test his motorcycle's capabilities at the Bonneville Speedway. However, while modifying his motorcycle, Burt suffers a heart attack. An ambulance takes him to the hospital and he is told he has angina, and is advised to take it easy and not to ride his motorcycle. Burt ignores this advice, and is given medication. Burt is finally able to save enough to travel by cargo ship to Los Angeles, working his passage as the cook, but when he arrives, he experiences bureaucracy, skepticism and the indifference of big city people. It is his blunt but gregarious nature which overcomes each hurdle. He wins over the motel clerk, a transgender woman named Tina Washington, who assists him in clearing customs and helps him in buying a car. Fernando, the car salesman allows Burt to use his workshop and junkyard to build a trailer, and later offers him a job after Burt fine-tunes a number of the cars on the lot. Burt declines the offer, however, and shortly afterwards begins his long trip to Utah. Along the way, Burt meets numerous helpful people, including highway police, a Native American man called Jake who aids him when his trailer fails, a woman named Ada who allows him to repair his trailer in her garage and briefly becomes his lover, and Rusty, an Air Force pilot who is on leave from military service in Vietnam. Burt finally arrives at the Bonneville Salt Flats, only to be blocked by race officials for not registering his motorcycle for competition in advance, and not having the mandated safety equipment. In a show of sportsmanship, however, various competitors and fans in the Bonneville series intervene on his behalf, and he is eventually allowed to make a timed run. Despite various problems, he succeeds in his quest and sets a new land speed record at the 8th mile of his run; when he reaches 201.851 mph (324.847 km/h). By the end, his leg is burned by the exhaust, and he then falls with the motorcycle and skids to a stop, but he is able to return home to New Zealand as a hero. An epilogue describes that Burt never gave up making his bike go faster, he returned to Bonneville nine times setting numerous records, and his 1967 record for streamlined motorcycles under 1000cc still stands.

College student Jeffrey Beaumont returns to his suburban hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, after his father, Tom, has a near-fatal stroke. Walking home from the hospital, Jeffrey cuts through a vacant lot and discovers a severed human ear, which he takes to police detective John Williams. Williams's daughter Sandy tells Jeffrey that the ear somehow relates to a lounge singer named Dorothy Vallens. Intrigued, Jeffrey enters her apartment by posing as a pest exterminator. While there, he steals a spare key while she is distracted by a man in a distinctive yellow sport coat, whom Jeffrey nicknames the "Yellow Man". Jeffrey and Sandy attend Dorothy's nightclub act, in which she sings " Blue Velvet ", and leave early so Jeffrey can break into her apartment. Dorothy returns home and undresses; she finds Jeffrey hiding in a closet and forces him to strip at knifepoint, but he retreats to the closet when Frank Booth, a psychopathic gangster and drug lord, arrives and interrupts their encounter. Frank beats and rapes Dorothy while inhaling gas from a canister, alternating between fits of sobbing and violent rage. After Frank leaves, Jeffrey sneaks away and seeks comfort from Sandy. Surmising that Frank has abducted Dorothy's husband Don, and son Donnie, to force her into sexual slavery, Jeffrey suspects that Frank cut off Don's ear to intimidate her into submission. While continuing to see Sandy, Jeffrey enters into a sadomasochistic relationship with Dorothy, in which she encourages him to hit her. Jeffrey sees Frank attending Dorothy's show and later observes him selling drugs and meeting with the Yellow Man. Jeffrey then sees the Yellow Man meeting with a "well-dressed man". When Frank catches Jeffrey leaving Dorothy's apartment, he abducts them and takes them to the lair of Ben, a criminal associate holding Don and Donnie hostage. Frank permits Dorothy to see her family and forces Jeffrey to watch Ben perform an impromptu lip-sync of Roy Orbison 's " In Dreams ", which moves Frank to tears. Afterwards, he and his gang take Jeffrey and Dorothy on a high-speed joyride to a sawmill yard, where he again attempts to sexually abuse Dorothy. When Jeffrey intervenes and punches him in the face, an enraged Frank and his gang pull him out of the car. Replaying the tape of "In Dreams", Frank smears lipstick on his face and violently kisses Jeffrey. Frank then has Jeffrey restrained and beats him unconscious, while Dorothy pleads for Frank to stop. Jeffrey awakens the next morning, bruised and bloodied. While visiting the police station, Jeffrey discovers that the Yellow Man is Detective Williams's partner Tom Gordon, who has been murdering Frank's rival drug dealers and stealing confiscated narcotics from the evidence room for Frank to sell. After Jeffrey and Sandy declare their love for each other at a party, they are pursued by a car which they assume belongs to Frank; as they arrive at Jeffrey's home, Sandy realizes the driver is her ex-boyfriend, Mike. After Mike threatens to beat Jeffrey for stealing his girlfriend, Dorothy appears on Jeffrey's porch naked, beaten, and confused. Mike backs down as Jeffrey and Sandy whisk Dorothy to Sandy's house to summon medical attention. When Dorothy calls Jeffrey "my secret lover", a distraught Sandy slaps him for cheating on her. Jeffrey asks Sandy to tell her father everything, and Detective Williams then leads a police raid on Frank's headquarters, killing Frank's men. Jeffrey returns alone to Dorothy's apartment, where he discovers Don dead and with his ear missing, and Gordon in a lobotomised state from being shot in the head. As Jeffrey leaves the apartment, the "Well-Dressed Man" arrives, sees Jeffrey in the stairs, and chases him back inside. Jeffrey uses Gordon's walkie-talkie to say he is in the bedroom before hiding in the closet. The "Well-Dressed Man" arrives at the apartment and Jeffrey observes he is actually Frank in disguise. Frank begins searching the apartment, and kills Gordon in the process. Jeffrey sneaks out of the closet and grabs Gordon's gun, which he uses to kill Frank when he opens the door. Moments later, Sandy and Detective Williams arrive. Some time later, Jeffrey and Sandy have continued their relationship, Tom Beaumont has recovered, and Dorothy has been reunited with her son.

Ruben Stone plays drums in the avant-garde metal duo Blackgammon, with his singer girlfriend, Lou. They live in an RV and tour the United States performing gigs. When Ruben begins to lose his hearing, he goes to a pharmacy seeking a diagnosis. The pharmacist refers him to a doctor, who finds that Ruben has lost most of his hearing and that the rest will deteriorate rapidly. Although cochlear implants may benefit him, insurance does not cover the high cost. The doctor suggests that Ruben eliminate all exposure to loud noises and undergo further testing, but Ruben continues to perform. Lou wants to stop performing for his safety, but Ruben wants to continue. She is also concerned about his sobriety, as he is a recovering drug addict. They call his sponsor, Hector, who finds a rural shelter for deaf recovering addicts run by a man named Joe, a recovering alcoholic who lost his hearing in the Vietnam War. Ruben leaves with Lou because they will not let her live there with him, and he wants only the implants. Anxious for his well-being, Lou leaves and persuades Ruben to return to the shelter. Ruben meets the other members of the shelter, attends meetings, and settles into his new life. He is introduced to schoolteacher Diane and the children in her class and learns American Sign Language. Joe tasks Ruben with writing and sitting peacefully in his study in an effort to make him comfortable with the silence. Ruben joins Diane's class and connects with the children and the rest of the community. He gives the children and Diane drumming lessons. Joe invites Ruben to stay as an employee of the community. Ruben illicitly uses Joe's office computer to follow Lou's activities and learns she is performing music in Paris. He has his friend Jenn sell his drums and other music equipment, then he sells his RV, using the money for cochlear implant surgery. Ruben asks Joe to loan him money to buy back his RV while he awaits the activation of the implants. Joe refuses, saying that Ruben is behaving like an addict. He asks Ruben if he's experienced any moments of stillness during his time in his study, before asking him to leave the community, as it is founded on the belief that deafness is not a handicap. Ruben has his implants activated but is disappointed by their distorted sound. He flies to Paris to meet Lou at the home of her wealthy father, Richard. Richard confides in Ruben that though he initially disliked him, he recognizes that Ruben made Lou happy. Lou has settled into her new lifestyle and has ceased self-harming. At a party, Lou and Richard perform a duet; Ruben's perception of the sound is distorted by the implants. When Ruben tells Lou he wants to return to their music, she responds with interest but begins scratching her arms. Ruben tells her all is well and that she saved his life. She tells him that he saved hers too. The next morning, Ruben takes his things and leaves while Lou sleeps. In a park, the ringing of a church bell is distorted by his implants; Ruben removes his processors and sits in silence.

Rowf, a labrador - mix, and Snitter, a smooth fox-terrier, are two of many dogs used for experimental purposes at an animal research facility in the Lake District of north-western England. Snitter has had his brain surgically experimented upon (leaving the top of his head scarred and covered with bandages), while Rowf has been drowned and resuscitated repeatedly. One evening, Snitter squeezes under the netting of his cage and into Rowf's, where they discover his cage is unlatched. They explore the facility in order to escape until they sneak into the incinerator, where they narrowly escape in time before it ignites. Initially relieved and eager to experience their new freedom, the dogs are soon faced not only with the realities of life in the wild but with the fact they are being hunted by their former captors. They come to befriend the Tod, a nameless Geordie -accented fox who goes by the local slang term for a wild fox. The Tod teaches them to hunt in the wild in exchange for a share of their kills. Snitter hopes for a new home as he once had a master, but loses hope after accidentally killing a man by stepping onto the trigger of his shotgun as he climbs up onto him. As time passes, the two dogs grow emaciated, having to steal more and more food while still avoiding capture. The Tod is also proven to be difficult for the dogs to understand and cooperate. When the Tod finds a nest of eggs, he eats them all himself, enraging Rowf. The Tod himself disapproves of their risky behavior, like killing domestic sheep grazing on the local hills. They go their separate ways for a time, but the Tod eventually returns to assist them by distracting a lab-hired gunman who then falls to his death, allowing the starving dogs to consume his corpse. The three reconcile and wander about aimlessly, with the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment and the media roped into the pursuit, driven by rumors of the two dogs carrying bubonic plague. The Tod parts company with the two dogs after leading them to a train pulled by River Irt on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. While the dogs escape on the train, the Tod sacrifices his life by distracting the military in order to allow Snitter and Rowf to escape. Thanks to the Tod's distraction, Snitter and Rowf arrive at the coastal village of Ravenglass, but upon departing the train, the two dogs are spotted by an RAF Sea King helicopter and are pursued by it until they reach the shoreline and can run no farther. Meanwhile, the research facility receives a call from a senior civil servant, who demands the complete cessation of all experiments. As armed troops approach and prepare to shoot the dogs, Snitter looks out over the water and claims to see an island—he jumps into the sea and begins to swim to it. Rowf is hesitant to follow due to his conditioned fear of water, but his greater fear of the gunmen drives him to jump in as well and catch up with Snitter. Two gunshots are fired at the dogs but seemingly miss; immediately a white mist envelops the pair, and the troops disappear. The dogs swim through the mist towards the island Snitter claims to see, but Rowf cannot spot. Snitter eventually begins to doubt that there is any island and he stops paddling, losing hope. Rowf, however, claims to finally spot the island and urges Snitter to continue. During the credits, the mist lifts, revealing an island on the horizon while the clouds slowly part and the sky ultimately clears.

One night shortly before Malcolm Little is born, a party of Klansmen surround the Little family home in Omaha, Nebraska, break all the windows, and ride off into the night. Malcolm has a Grenadian mother and African-American father. His father, an activist for black rights, is killed. His death is registered as a suicide and the family receives no compensation. Malcolm and his siblings are put into protective care. He performs well in school and dreams of being a lawyer, but his teacher discourages it due to his skin color. During World War II, Malcolm lives in Boston. One night at a dance, he catches the attention of the white Sophia, and the two begin a sexual relationship. Malcolm travels to New York City 's Harlem with Sophia, where he meets "West Indian" Archie, a gangster who runs a local numbers game, at a bar. The two become friends and start co-operating an illegal numbers racket. One night at a club, Malcolm claims to have bet on a winning number; Archie disputes this, denying him a large sum of money. A conflict ensues between the two and Malcolm returns to Boston after an attempt on his life. Malcolm, Sophia, his friend Shorty, and a woman named Peg decide to perform burglaries to earn money. By 1946, the group has accrued a large amount of money from their crimes. However, they are later arrested. The two women are sentenced to two years as first offenders, while Malcolm and Shorty are sentenced to 8–10 years. While incarcerated, Malcolm meets Baines, a member of the Nation of Islam, who directs him to the teachings of the group's leader Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm grows interested in the Muslim religion and lifestyle promoted by the group, and begins to resent white people for mistreating his race. He is paroled from prison in 1952 after serving six years, and travels to the Nation of Islam's headquarters in Chicago. There, he meets Muhammad, who instructs him to replace his surname "Little" with "X", which symbolizes his lost African surname that was taken from his ancestors by white slavemasters; he is rechristened as "Malcolm X". Malcolm returns to Harlem and begins to preach the Nation's message; over time, his speeches draw large crowds of onlookers. He proposes ideas such as African-American separation from white Americans. In 1958, Malcolm meets nurse Betty Sanders. The two begin dating, quickly marry and become the parents of four daughters. Several years later, he is now in a high position as the spokesperson of the Nation of Islam. During this time, he learns that Muhammad had fathered numerous children out of wedlock, contradicting his teachings and Islam. After President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in November 1963, Malcolm comments that the assassination was the product of white violence that has been prevalent in America since its founding, saying the killing is an example of "the devil's chickens coming home to roost." This statement damages his reputation and Muhammad suspends him from speaking to the press or at temples for 90 days. He announces that he has been forced out of the Nation of Islam and will start his own mosque in New York. In early 1964, Malcolm goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca where he meets Muslims from all races, including white. His house is firebombed in early 1965. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm speaks before a crowd at the Audubon Ballroom, but assassins shoot him several times. One of his bodyguards shoots one of the shooters in the leg before a furious crowd beats him. Malcolm is transported to a hospital, where his death is announced to the crowd. The film concludes with a series of clips showing the aftermath of Malcolm's death. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a eulogy to him, and Ossie Davis recites a speech at his funeral. Nelson Mandela delivers a speech to a school, quoting an excerpt from one of Malcolm's speeches.

This story is about one man — who is an artist and an intellectual — imprisoned by two brutal regimes, the Nazis and the Soviets. 'The Professor' is a man who lives by his own personal version of the Ten Commandments. After miraculously surviving imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp through a bit of ironic fate, he writes a memoir of his life, which becomes the target of the Soviet censors.

In the "not-too-distant" future, eugenics is common. A genetic registry database uses biometrics to classify those so created as "valids" while those conceived naturally and more susceptible to genetic disorders are known as "in-valids". Genetic discrimination is illegal, but in practice genotype profiling is used to identify valids to qualify for professional employment while in-valids are relegated to menial jobs. Vincent Freeman was conceived naturally, and his genetic profile indicates a high probability of several disorders and an estimated lifespan of 30.2 years. His parents, regretting their decision, use genetic selection in conceiving their second child, Anton Jr. Growing up, the two brothers often play a game of " chicken " by swimming out to sea as far as possible, with the first one returning to shore considered the loser; Vincent always loses. Vincent dreams of a career in space travel, but is always reminded of his genetic inferiority. One day, Vincent challenges Anton to a game of chicken and beats him. Anton starts to drown and is saved by Vincent. Shortly after, Vincent leaves home. Years later, Vincent works cleaning office spaces, including that of spaceflight conglomerate Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. He gets a chance to pose as a valid with a "borrowed ladder", using donated hair, skin, blood, and urine samples from former swimming star Jerome Eugene Morrow, who was paralyzed after being hit by a car. With Jerome's genetic makeup, Vincent gains employment at Gattaca and is assigned as a navigator for an upcoming mission to Saturn's moon Titan. To conceal his identity, Vincent must meticulously groom and scrub his body daily to remove his own genetic material, pass daily DNA scanning and urine tests using Jerome's samples, and hide his heart defect. When a Gattaca administrator is murdered a week before a possible launch, the police find one of Vincent's eyelashes near the crime scene, but can only identify it as from an "unregistered" in-valid, and thus launch an investigation to find who owns the eyelash. During this, Vincent becomes close to a co-worker, Irene Cassini, and falls in love with her. Though a valid, Irene has a higher risk of heart failure that will bar her from any deep space mission. Vincent also learns that Jerome's paralysis is self-inflicted; after placing silver in the Olympics, Jerome threw himself in front of a car. Jerome maintains that he was designed to be the best, yet somehow was not, and is suffering because of this. Vincent repeatedly evades the grasp of the investigation. Finally, it is revealed that Gattaca's mission director Josef killed the administrator because he threatened to cancel the mission. Vincent learns that the detective who closed the case was his brother Anton, who consequently has discovered Vincent's presence. The brothers meet, and Anton warns Vincent about his illegal actions, but Vincent asserts that he has gotten to this position on his own merits. Anton challenges Vincent to a final game of chicken. As the two swim out at night, Vincent's stamina surprises Anton, so Vincent reveals that he won by not saving energy for the swim back. Anton turns back and begins to drown, but Vincent rescues him and swims them back to shore. On the day of the launch, Jerome reveals that he has stored enough DNA samples for Vincent to last two lifetimes upon his return and gives him an envelope to open once in flight. After saying goodbye to Irene, Vincent prepares to board, but discovers there is a final genetic test, and he currently lacks any of Jerome's samples. He is surprised when Dr. Lamar, who oversees background checks, reveals that he knows Vincent has been posing as a valid. Lamar admits that his son looks up to Vincent and wonders whether his son, who is genetically selected, but "not all that they promised", could exceed his potential just as Vincent has. The doctor changes the test results, allowing Vincent to pass. As the rocket launches, Jerome dons his swimming medal and immolates himself in his home's incinerator. Vincent opens the note to find a lock of Jerome's hair.

In 1944, Dutch Jewish singer Rachel Stein is hiding in the occupied Netherlands. When the farmhouse where she had been hiding is destroyed by an Allied bomber, she goes to see a lawyer named Smaal who had been helping her family. He arranges for her to escape to the liberated southern part of the country. Aided by a man named Van Gein, Rachel is reunited with her family and boards a boat that is to take them and other refugees to the south. They are ambushed by the German SS who kill them and rob valuables from the bodies. Rachel alone survives but does not manage to escape from the occupied territory. Using a non-Jewish alias, Ellis de Vries, Rachel becomes involved with a resistance group in The Hague, under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers and working closely with a doctor, Hans Akkermans. Smaal is in touch with this Resistance cell. When Kuipers's son and other members of the Resistance are captured, Ellis agrees to help by seducing local SD commander Hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze. During a party at SD headquarters, Ellis recognises Obersturmführer Günther Franken, Müntze's brutal deputy, as the officer who had overseen the massacre on the boat. She obtains a job at the SD headquarters while falling in love with Müntze who, in contrast to Franken, is not abusive or sadistic. He realises that she is a Jew but does not care. Thanks to a hidden microphone that Ellis plants in Franken's office, the Resistance realises that Van Gein is the traitor who betrayed Rachel, her family, and the other Jews. Against Kuipers's orders, Akkermans decides to abduct Van Gein to expose him. Their attempt goes wrong, and Van Gein is killed. Franken responds by planning to kill 40 hostages, including most of the plotters but Müntze, who realises the war is lost and has been negotiating with the Resistance, countermands the order. Müntze forces Ellis to tell him her story. On her evidence, he confronts Franken with a superior officer, Obergruppenführer Käutner, who orders Franken to open his safe, expecting to find the valuables stolen from the Jews he had killed, this being a capital offense. The safe contains no valuables and Franken then tells Käutner that Müntze has been negotiating with the resistance for a truce. Müntze is imprisoned and condemned to death. The resistance plot to rescue their imprisoned members; Ellis agrees to cooperate only on the condition that they also free Müntze. The plan is betrayed and the rescuers find the prisoners' cells filled with German troops. Only Akkermans and one other man manage to flee. Ellis is arrested and taken to Franken's office. He knows about her and the microphone and, knowing that the resistance members are listening, he stages a confrontation to make them believe that Ellis is the collaborator responsible for the failure of the rescue. Kuipers and his companions swear to make her pay for her treason. Ronnie, a Dutch woman working at the SD headquarters to whom Ellis had confided her role in the resistance, helps her and Müntze escape. When the country is liberated by the Allies, Franken attempts to escape by boat but is killed by Akkermans, who takes the Jewish loot. Suspecting Smaal is the traitor, Müntze and Ellis return to confront him. Smaal states that the identity of the traitor is evidenced by his 'black book', in which he had detailed all his dealings with Jews. He refuses to discuss it further, wanting to go to the Canadian authorities. When they are about to leave, Smaal and his wife are killed by an unknown assailant. Müntze chases him into the street, only to be recognised by the Dutch crowd and arrested by soldiers from the Canadian Army. The Dutch also recognise Ellis and arrest her as a collaborator but not before she grabs the black book. Müntze is brought before the Canadian officers and finds that Käutner is helping to keep order among the defeated German forces. Käutner convinces a Canadian colonel that under military law, the defeated German military retains the right to punish its own soldiers (this is based on the real executions of German deserters). Due to the German death warrant, Müntze is executed by a firing squad. Ellis is imprisoned with accused collaborators, humiliated and tortured by the violently anti-Nazi volunteer jailers but rescued by Akkermans, who is now a colonel in the Dutch Army. Akkermans brings her to his medical office and says that he killed Franken when the Nazi tried to escape. He shows her the valuables stolen from Jewish victims. When informed about Müntze's fate, Ellis goes into shock and Akkermans administers a tranquilliser which is in fact an overdose of insulin. Ellis, feeling dizzy, sees the bottle of insulin and survives by quickly eating a bar of chocolate. She realises then that Akkermans is the traitor who had collaborated with Franken and had killed the Smaals. While Akkermans is distracted, waving to a crowd that cheers him, she jumps from the balcony into the crowd below and runs away. He tries to follow but is blocked by the crowd. Ellis proves her innocence to Canadian military intelligence and the former Resistance leader Gerben Kuipers through Smaal's black book, which lists how many Jews had been taken to Akkermans for medical help just prior to their murder. Ellis and Kuipers intercept the fleeing Akkermans, hiding in a coffin in a hearse with the stolen money, gold, and jewels. They beat the driver, and while Kuipers drives the hearse, Ellis screws down the coffin's secret air vents. They drive to Hollands Diep where the original SS trap had been sprung and wait until Akkermans suffocates. Ellis and Kuipers wonder what to do with the stolen money and jewels. The scene changes to Israel in 1956, reprising the opening scenes and shows Rachel meeting her husband and their two children, walking back into Kibbutz Stein, with a sign at the gate announcing that it was funded with recovered money from Jews killed during the war. In the final scene, the tranquillity of Rachel and her family is interrupted by explosions heard in the distance; the siren announces an air attack and Israeli soldiers position themselves at the front of the kibbutz.

Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at Philadelphia's law firm Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from others in the office. A partner in the firm, Walter Kenton, notices a lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although Beckett attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it indicates Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining condition. During the 10 days given for a case assigned to him, Beckett tries to hide his lesions by staying home from work. He finishes the paperwork for this the night before the statute of limitations for the case ends, bringing it to his office and leaving instructions for his assistants to file it the following day. However, he receives a call the next day asking for the paperwork, which cannot be found, and is informed that there are no copies on the computer's hard drive. His paperwork is finally located in an alternative location and is filed with the court at the last moment. Beckett is called to a meeting the morning afterwards where the firm's partners fire him. Beckett believes someone deliberately hid the paperwork to give the firm an excuse to do so and that the termination is a result of his AIDS status and his sexuality. He asks ten attorneys to represent him in suing the firm for wrongful dismissal, the last of whom is African-American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller, whom Beckett previously opposed in a different case. Miller appears uncomfortable that a man with AIDS is in his office. After declining to take the case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted the disease. The doctor explains that the routes of HIV infection do not include casual contact. Unable to find representation from another lawyer, Beckett feels compelled to act as his own attorney. While conducting research at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. A librarian approaches Beckett and says that he has found a case of AIDS discrimination for him. As others in the library begin to stare uneasily, the librarian suggests Beckett go to a private room. Seeing parallels in racial discrimination, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material he has gathered, and agrees to take the case. As the case goes to trial, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly point out Beckett brought AIDS upon himself via willing gay sex with strangers and is therefore not a victim. To demonstrate Kenton would recognize the lesion as a symptom of AIDS-related illness, his former co-worker Melissa Benedict—who contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion —is brought in to testify. She mentions how his facial expressions showed discomfort around her because of it. Kenton denies recognizing Beckett's lesion, and insists Benedict was an innocent victim due to the transfusion, unlike Beckett. To prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions are indeed visible and recognizable as such. Throughout the trial, Miller's homophobia slowly disappears as he and Beckett bond from working together. Beckett collapses and is hospitalized after Charles Wheeler, the partner he most admired, testifies against him. Another partner, Bob Seidman, confesses that he suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and refused to let him discuss it, which he deeply regrets. During Beckett's hospital stay, the jury votes in his favor, awarding him back pay, damages for pain and suffering, and punitive damages, totaling over $5 million. Miller visits the visibly frail Beckett in the hospital after the verdict and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After the family leaves the room, Beckett tells his lover Miguel Alvarez that he is "ready". At the Miller home later that night, Miller and his wife are awakened by a phone call from Alvarez, who tells them that Beckett has died. A memorial is held at Beckett's home, where many mourners, including Miller and his family, view home movies of Beckett as a happy child.