On July 4, 2005, El Paso and Abilene, Texas are destroyed and hundreds of thousands are killed by twin nuclear attacks, sending the United States into a state of a Third World War, with the government re-introducing the draft. The PATRIOT Act extends authority, due to the overwhelming victory of the Republican Party, to US-IDENT, a new agency which keeps constant surveillance on citizens. In response to the recent fuel shortage in the wake of global warfare, the German company Treer designs "Fluid Karma", a generator of inexhaustible energy, which is propelled by the perpetual motion of ocean currents. Treer scientist Baron Von Westphalen seeks world domination using the leverage of his energy machine. In 2008 Los Angeles, Senator and GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Bobby Frost (who also seeks the presidency itself) presides over the opening of US-IDENT with his wife, Nana Mae Frost, installed as its director. Right-wing film star Boxer Santaros awakens on the beach with amnesia after a three-day disappearance. He does not remember his marriage to Senator Frost's daughter Madeline, and has instead begun an affair with former porn star turned-talk show host Krysta Now. Meanwhile, a group of Neo-Marxist revolutionaries composed of Cyndi Pinziki, Zora Carmichaels and Ronald Taverner hatch a plan to turn the national spotlight against US-IDENT. They have kidnapped Ronald's twin brother, police officer Roland, and plan to outfit Ronald in his uniform and car in order to stage a racially motivated double-murder. They have Boxer bring a video camera as he goes with Ronald, under the guise of preparing for a police officer role for his screenplay. Ronald responds to a staged domestic disturbance call where Neo-Marxists Dream and Dion, disguised as newlyweds, fake an argument. Unexpectedly, another cop, Bart Bookman arrives on the scene, murders Dream and Dion, and takes the camera. Bookman is revealed to be in cahoots with Zora when she later attacks Ronald with fluid karma, leaving him unconscious in the street. The next day, Krysta stops by Zora's apartment and takes the videotape of the double murder, mistaking it for her sex tape. At the Santa Monica beach, she puts it in a Neo-Marxist dropbox, leading to the contents later being made public, and Zora and Bookman are shot dead by police while attempting to steal back the tape. Boxer arrives at the beach and meets Starla, who called him earlier posing as a character from his screenplay, and threatens to kill herself if he does not allow her to perform oral sex on him. Iraq War veteran Private Pilot Abilene shoots her dead from his perch at the top of the pier and Boxer runs off, only to be confronted by supposed friend Fortunio, who knocks him unconscious and returns him to the Frosts. Nearby, Ronald awakens and sets out to find his brother. He encounters a young man named Martin Kefauver in an SUV and stops him from killing himself to avoid the draft, and the two go out in search for Roland, who earlier escaped the Neo-Marxist headquarters during a US-IDENT raid, only to be captured by Walter Mung, an ice cream truck-based arms dealer. The Frosts and the city prepare for an upper-class party on Von Westphalen's Mega- Zeppelin to celebrate its launch. Boxer leaves the main hall of the ship in search of answers, and finds a room with three of Westphalen's scientists, who explain that he was selected to travel through a time rift in the desert at the time of his disappearance, and is, in fact, his future self. The scientists show him the corpse of his past self, who they say killed himself. Boxer asserts that his suicide is impossible because he is a "pimp", and "pimps don't commit suicide." One of the scientists also states that dire consequences would unfold if two identical human souls were to make physical contact. Boxer presses Serpentine for details, revealing that Boxer was actually murdered in a car bomb and that Roland was the one who kidnapped Boxer and drove him through the rift. She also confirms that Roland and Ronald are the same person, with his past and present self coexisting. Outside where the city is, as a firefight ensues between rioters and the police, both Taverners crash into each other. Roland is shot in the eye but survives. Inside the ice cream truck, the Taverners hold hands, causing the truck to rise into the air along with Kefauver, who stands on top with a shoulder-mounted heat-seeking ground-to-air missile. US-IDENT headquarters is raided by Fortunio and rioters who kill Nana Mae Frost. Inside the Zeppelin, Boxer returns to the main hall and takes the stage for a dance number involving Krysta and his wife, Madeline. He interrupts the number to order an evacuation, or else he will kill himself. Kefauver fires a rocket at the Zeppelin, destroying it, and jumps off the truck. As the Taverners continue to hold hands, a time rift begins to grow in the sky. Roland threatens Ronald with suicide if he does not let go and tells him to "remember Fallujah". Ronald replies that it was not their fault, with Roland conceding that it was friendly fire. Abilene narrates that a new age is beginning, with Roland as its Messiah, concluding that he is a "pimp" and that "pimps don't commit suicide."

In the aftermath of a financial crisis in the European Union and the weakening of NATO, collaborative dealings have occurred between a progressively militant North Korea and an ultranationalist Russia. The American mainland has become largely undefended from the increased deployment of U.S. troops abroad, and American infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. U.S. Marine Jed Eckert is on home leave in Spokane, Washington, where he reunites with his father, Spokane Police Sergeant Tom Eckert, his brother, Matt Eckert, and his childhood friend Toni Walsh and her cousin Erica Martin, Matt's girlfriend. Matt, the quarterback for his football team, blew a playoff game because of his cowboy antics. After the city suffers a blackout, Jed and Matt witness North Korean paratroopers and transport aircraft invading the town. Their father tells them to escape to their cabin in the woods while he helps the townspeople. They're joined by Matt's friends Robert Kitner, Daryl Jenkins, Danny Jackson, siblings Julie and Greg Goodyear, a stranger named Pete, and his buddy. After Erica is captured, Toni joins them as well. As the group debates whether to surrender or resist, Pete and his buddy steal their supplies, inadvertently betraying their position. Captain Cho and his soldiers order Daryl's father, the mayor, to convince the group to surrender. Sergeant Eckert refuses to cooperate and is executed by Cho after encouraging them to resist, and the cabin is then torched to the ground. Jed is determined to fight back, and the group joins him. Under Jed's training, the group learns to hunt for survival, use weapons, and establish a base in an abandoned mine. The group, naming themselves the Wolverines after their school mascot, stage guerrilla attacks on soldiers and collaborators, including Pete, who is killed in a bombing. During a plot to eliminate the leadership during a rally, Jed soon finds Russian Spetsnaz working with the North Korean army. However, Cho discovers their bomb, compromising their mission. Matt recklessly strays from the plan to free Erica, who was on a prison transport, but Greg is killed in the process. The North Koreans find their location and retaliate with artillery fire, destroying their base, and killing Danny and Julie. The surviving Wolverines later encounter U.S. Marines Sergeant Major Andrew Tanner, Corporal Smith, and Sergeant Hodges, who reveal that a Russian-backed North Korean forces used a EMP weapon to disable the U.S. electrical grid and crippled the military forces, immediately followed by landings along the east and west coasts. American counterattacks eventually halted their advances, leaving a large area stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians as "Free America" while pockets of resistance continue to oppose the invasion. The Wolverines learn that Captain Cho's suitcase contains an EMP-resistant radiotelephone, and if they can steal it, the U.S. command could use it to their advantage in a counter-offensive. The Wolverines help the Marines infiltrate the police department, which is being used as the North Koreans' operation center, and steal the suitcase. Jed kills Cho, though Hodges is killed in the firefight. The Wolverines and Marines regroup at a safe house with the suitcase, but Jed is killed in an ambush by Russian Spetsnaz. As Matt and the group escape with the suitcase, Robert discovers that Daryl was tagged by the Russians with a subcutaneous tracking device during the police station raid. Knowing he cannot go with them, Daryl stays behind to buy time for the others as they head to the Marines' extraction point. Tanner and Smith depart with the suitcase, while the remaining Wolverines stay to continue fighting under Matt's leadership.

John, now going by the surname Young, teaches comparative religion at a community college in Chico, California. He is well-liked by students and married to fellow faculty member Carolyn Kittriss. For the first time in his life, John shows signs of ageing and a cut during a hunting trip indicates that his regenerative abilities are diminishing. When Isabel, an enthusiastic student, is allowed to borrow books from John's collection, she discovers one authored by Dr. Jenkins and signed for John Oldman. Curious, Isabel learns about another, controversial book he authored, an account of the 14,000-year-old John Oldman. Drawing parallels between Oldman and their teacher, she shares the discovery with her classmates Tara, Liko and Philip. They are open to the possibility that they are the same person, although Philip's faith is challenged with the book's claim that John was Jesus Christ (another possibility is that he may have been the Teacher of Righteousness). Their suspicions are confirmed when they obtain the book and see the only photo of Oldman, who is described as averse to being photographed to facilitate forging new identities. Isabel attempts to contact Dr. Jenkins by email, but he rudely rejects her, assuming she is yet another person seeking to ridicule him. Undeterred, Isabel, Tara and Liko trespass into the Young household, discovering several books authored by John under various surnames. They also find a painting believed to be by Vincent van Gogh, which Isabel's cousin, an art major, considers possibly authentic supporting the book's claim that John had known van Gogh personally. The group later contacts a retired university professor who recalls meeting John during the 1950s. Isabel leaves a voice message for Jenkins, but this time he is interested when she mentions John Young and agrees to meet them on the condition that they first provide a clear photo of John's face. After unsuccessful attempts to take a picture in class, they go into his house at night and photograph him while he is asleep. Jenkins, although somewhat hesitant as the purported John appears aged, agrees. Shortly afterward, Tara visits John in his office. He becomes concerned when she cryptically claims to know his true identity. In tears, Tara explains that she has always felt lonely as well. When John attempts to comfort her, she makes a sexual advance, which he rejects, asking her to leave. Isabel scolds Tara when she confesses the incident, fearing that John may leave before Jenkins arrives. John is indeed preparing for departure, and his refusal to offer an explanation leads to an argument with his wife. That evening, the four confront John about the book's veracity. He admits to being Oldman but insists that the story was a fabrication and expresses regret that Jenkins damaged his own reputation by publishing it. To stop him, John is tased and restrained in his basement, assigning Philip to watch him while the others attempt to retrieve Jenkins, whose car has broken down nearby. Upon regaining consciousness, John warns Philip that their actions are criminal but offers not to report them if he is released. Philip, however, persists in questioning John about Jesus. After a few evasions, John finally admits to having been Jesus, explaining that he has avoided garnering attention since witnessing the distortion of his moral teachings. Although Philip initially welcomes the idea that John is divine despite telling the truth, the situation becomes tense when John expresses that all religious paths lead to salvation. Recounting the Book of Revelation, Philip renounces John as the seven-headed beast and stabs him. When Jenkins, Isabel, Liko and Tara arrive, they are shocked to find blood stains throughout the house, with both John and Philip missing. Weeks later, John has been hiding in the wilderness, and he arranges to meet with Harry. They speculate that his aging might result from the Holocene itself ending to herald the Anthropocene. John accepts Harry's invitation to live with his family. Back in his home, Jenkins is visited by an FBI agent who knows about John's many identities and extraordinary age, adding that he is a suspect in many violent crimes, including Philip's disappearance. When he asks Jenkins whether he believes an immortal serial killer is possible, Jenkins replies that anything is.

Fox and X are Tokyo-based freelance industrial spies who specialize in helping R&D scientists defect from corporations who would rather see them dead than working for competitors. Fox is obsessed with Dr. Hiroshi, a paradigm-shattering super-genius who works for Maas, the German corporation that crippled Fox. Japanese firm Hosaka hires Fox and X to help Hiroshi defect, offering a fee of $50 million. Fox and X hire Sandii, a nightclub singer and call girl in Shinjuku, to help persuade Hiroshi to defect to a newly outfitted Hosaka lab in Marrakesh. While training her for the extraction, X falls in love with Sandii, who offers conflicting accounts of her past. Fox and X meet Hosaka representatives and negotiate their fee up to $100 million. Sandii meets Hiroshi in Vienna and persuades him to leave his wife and defect to Hosaka. Fox travels to Marrakesh to await Hiroshi, and X arranges to spend a night with Sandii in Berlin before her rendezvous in Marrakesh. Sandii proposes that she and X leave Fox and marry. X offers to discuss it after Sandii visits Marrakesh. That night, while Sandii sleeps, X rummages through her personal effects, finding cash, information about her aliases, and an unmarked computer chip. Hosaka transfers the agreed-upon $100 million fee. Fox returns from Marrakesh, and X informs him that he will be meeting Sandii in Shinjuku to start a new life with her, a plan that Fox begrudgingly accepts. Later, Fox and X celebrate their success and newfound wealth with prostitutes. The next day, X's contact in Marrakesh informs him that Hosaka has relocated many top scientists to the new lab in Marrakesh, a move that Fox deems unsafe but potentially lucrative for him and X, despite X's insistence that he is finished with the case. During the night, X's Marrakesh contact informs him that somebody secretly reprogrammed the lab's DNA synthesizer to spread a virus that killed everyone in the facility, including Hiroshi, and that Sandii has vanished. X discovers that the bank account holding the $100 million has been terminated. Fox deduces that Maas recruited Sandii in Vienna and ordered her to kill Hosaka's scientists in Marrakesh, and that Hosaka, presuming that Fox and X were complicit, has wiped their account and will send agents to kill them. After being surrounded by Hosaka agents in a department store, Fox leaps to his death. X flees to a shabby capsule hotel called the New Rose Hotel, where he reflects on his time with Fox and Sandii and views footage of a man removing the unmarked computer chip from the DNA synthesizer in Marrakesh. Knowing that Hosaka will hunt him wherever he goes, X contemplates suicide and masturbates to the memory of his last night with Sandii.

In San Francisco, college dropout John Elias (John Light) is determined to set up his own internet business named Digital Dreams, based on his vision of building a better and faster communication for mankind. He hires a deal closer named Robert Jennings (Jeffrey Donovan) as his Executive VP and after successfully receiving the finance, John and Robert start to launch and run the company together. But once he makes his first million, John is soon distracted by greed, fame and fortune whilst his company starts to become at risk of a hostile takeover.

Stewart "P.C." Simpson (Burlinson) lives in a magnificent beachfront home and is an enthusiastic windsurfer, indulging his passion for windsurfing daily. His wealthy father (Tingwell) may fault P.C.'s inconsistency in working within the company he owns but can appreciate his son's remarkable abilities on the waves. With the help of his father's company's engineer Howard (Chilvers), P.C. develops a high-tech sailboard for the coming world windsurfing championship. Meanwhile, Jade (Kidman) is a rock singer who starts a relationship with P.C., but as their romance blooms, sport, friends, and the upcoming championship become secondary.

The core plot begins with the kidnapping of Patrick (Andreas Stitch), the son of a wealthy industrialist. Sexual and romantic entanglements push the drama forward. At the film's climax, Gudrun delivers a soliloquy on the importance of personal life in revolution. She puts particular emphasis on the breaking of heterosexual and possessive sexual norms, urging her comrades to join "The Homosexual Intifada ". The pressure of Gudrun's controlling personality causes the group to break up. Most of the urban guerrillas escape into the night. In the dénouement, the characters are visited some time later. Several have found happiness in the homosexual relationships established during their revolutionary activities. Che has become a terrorist trainer in the Middle East. Patrick escapes with Clyde, where they embark on a spree of bank robberies. This action is reminiscent of Patty Hearst 's actions with the SLA. Gudrun and Holger settle down and have a child named Ulrike (after Ulrike Meinhof), whom Gudrun believes could embody the next generation of the Red Army Faction.

Kenneth Zevo, the eccentric owner of Zevo Toys in Moscow, Idaho, faces terminal illness. Defying expectations, he bypasses his son, Leslie—a whimsical toymaker apprenticed at the factory—and appoints his estranged brother, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Leland Zevo, as successor. Kenneth believes Leslie's childlike nature would endanger the company, despite his talent. To aid Leslie's maturity, Kenneth hires Gwen Tyler, hoping they will form a romantic relationship. After Kenneth's death, Leland reluctantly assumes control but delegates factory operations to Leslie and his sister, Alsatia, due to their expertise. However, Leland's militaristic instincts surface upon learning of potential corporate espionage. He enlists his son Patrick, a covert operations specialist, to overhaul security. Inspired by war machinery, Leland proposes manufacturing military toys, clashing with Leslie, who cites Kenneth's pacifist ethos as company policy. Meanwhile, Leslie and Gwen begin dating. Secretly, Leland converts a factory section to develop miniature remote-controlled war machines, misleading Leslie by claiming it is for experimental toys. After the military rejects his prototypes, Leland grows unhinged, expanding production, militarizing the facility, and displacing workers—including Alsatia. Suspicious, Leslie and Alsatia infiltrate the restricted area and discover children piloting war drones via arcade-style consoles. They narrowly escape an amphibious drone, the "Sea Swine," and alert Gwen and Kenneth's former assistant Owen Owens. Patrick, learning Leland lied about his mother Dee Dee's death, defects to Leslie's side. The group infiltrates the factory, evading Leland's deadly toys, including "Tommy Tanks" and "Hurly-Burly Helicopters." Leslie rallies vintage Zevo toys from storage, unleashing them against Leland's army in a chaotic showdown. During the clash, Leland's helicopter misfires, destroying his control panel and deactivating his machines. A critical revelation emerges: Alsatia is an advanced robot built by Kenneth to be Leslie's companion after his mother's death. She is damaged defending against the Sea Swine but later repaired. Leland, attacked by his own drone, is hospitalized. Leslie assumes leadership, restoring the factory's playful ethos with Gwen, while Patrick departs for new missions. The film concludes with the group honoring Kenneth's legacy at a memorial.

American tourists Jenai and Riley arrive in Iceland and visit several landmarks. Riley has taken his father's Rolleiflex camera and plenty of film. When Jenai questions why he prefers it over a modern digital camera, Riley says he prefers to capture the imperfections of the moment rather than have a computer chip auto-correct all the errors. They visit an old church, and a priest tells them some of its history, calling the pre-Christian times simpler. Jenai reveals that her father is a preacher, though she says his church was not as pretty. After retiring for the night, Jenai seems to wake up in the middle of the night and has trouble falling back asleep. Looking out the window to admire the view, she sees strange flashes of the Northern Lights in the distance. Hours later, Riley wakes Jenai to get breakfast. They are frustrated to find that their lodging is not serving breakfast, then confused when they find no staff. They continue having trouble locating other people once they leave: the streets are empty, the stores have no staff, and nobody answers their calls. They spot a running car, and, not being able to locate the owner, appropriate it. As they discuss the possible reasons why the city has become empty, Jenai repeatedly attempts to contact her family in America to no avail. The power and water remain running, but the live television stations broadcast only test signals. Confused, Riley and Jenai return to the hotel after eating, finding no websites have been updated since yesterday. Riley remains optimistic, and suggests they make the most of the situation. He leads them on a shopping spree, eventually filling up two SUVs with goods from the seemingly abandoned stores. He amuses himself by photographing Jenai at scenic locations and performing stunts. Jenai, however, begins sinking into depression, missing her old life. She is further frustrated when Riley injures himself during a reckless stunt, and she pressures him to promise not to put himself at any further risk. As their supplies grow scarcer, Jenai and Riley are forced to ration. Riley angers Jenai when he eats perishable food out of the agreed-upon order based on expiration date. He says he can simply farm for more food if necessary, but she insists they follow the agreement. Seeing Jenai's poor mood, Riley attempts to cheer her by bringing her to the abandoned husk of an airplane he found. Riley calls it beautiful, but Jenai sees only a reminder of the dead world they now inhabit. After Jenai becomes overwhelmed by the decaying city, Riley suggests they go camping. Exploring a cabin, they come upon an old man named Nils. After they give him food and water, he explains that he left the city early on and returned to his cabin. Initially excited to find another survivor, Riley becomes frustrated with Nils' defeatist attitude. Nils tells Jenai about his home life: as a young man, he left his family for lengthy periods to make money as a fisherman. When he returned, he found they had changed. Jenai is disturbed when he says he did not protest this, as he believes it is useless to fight against God's will, which he says does not take humanity into consideration. The next morning, Riley tells Jenai that Nils has died. Thinking back to his philosophy, she asks why they should even bother burying him. Riley insists on doing it because "it's what we do". After they return to the city, Jenai becomes obsessed with searching for more survivors. Riley suggests she is looking for answers where there are none and that they should instead be trying to make the best of their new life. Jenai excitedly opens an email waiting for her on their laptop but is crushed when it is revealed to be a picture from Riley, who is enthused about taking pictures of Iceland in a new season. Riley, when he returns home, becomes concerned when he finds a package of developed pictures left for him by Jenai. Looking all over for her, he finally finds her body floating in a geothermal pool, having apparently drowned herself. Riley initially attempts suicide but instead drives off, anguished, without burying her.