The pharmaceutical company Aston Laboratories sends biochemist Dr. Rae Crane into the Amazon rainforest to locate researcher Robert Campbell, after his wife (and research partner) abandons him. Crane is bringing equipment and supplies but Campbell is upset the research partner is not forthcoming. He tries to send Crane home but she demurs, as she has been assigned to determine whether Campbell's research deserves continued funding. Campbell has found a " cure for cancer ", but attempts to synthesize the compound have failed. With supplies of the successful serum running low, Campbell isolates a derivative of a species of flower from which the formula can be synthesized and with Crane's help is determined to find its source. Campbell earns the title " medicine man " of the village by giving a boy with a stomach ache Alka-Seltzer, insulting the real medicine man and driving him deep into the forest. A logging company is building a road headed straight for the village, threatening to expose the native population to potentially lethal foreign pathogens, as has happened before. In fact, Campbell's wife left him because he could not forgive himself for the tragedy. Imana, a small boy appears with malignant neoplasms and Campbell, Crane, Imana and his father Jahausa set out in search of Campbell's predecessor, a medicine man from whom Campbell once acquired his knowledge of flowers. Upon encountering Campbell's entourage, the medicine man flees in fear. Though he is reluctant to pursue the man further, Crane convinces him circumstances demand that he must. Campbell rescues Crane from a fall, then locates the medicine man, whom he is compelled to fight in order to heal the medicine man's wounded pride and gain further necessary information. Unfortunately, the medicine man reveals that the flowers have no "juju"—power to heal. Jahausa and Imana agree to return another time. Back at the village, Crane initially refuses to allow Campbell to inoculate Imana with the last of the serum until more can be synthesized. But when Imana's condition worsens, she gives in and Imana is inoculated. The next morning, Imana is better but the village is in tumult. The logging road is nearly finished. Campbell appeals to the company's workers to halt construction until he can conclude his research but it refuses. In desperation and after new samples fail to contain the missing compound, Crane runs the chromatograph one more time and accidentally discovers that the source of the cure is not the flower but a species of rare ant indigenous to the rainforest. Campbell demands the construction stop. A fight results and a bulldozer catches fire, destroying the village and the research station along with many acres of rainforest. The next day, Crane promises to send Campbell new equipment and the research assistant he'd originally requested. She is about to return home when she meets the medicine man. He symbolically passes on his mantle to Campbell. Crane accepts an invitation to continue working with Campbell in exchange for recognition for co-discovering the source of the compound.

Set in modern-day Manhattan, the film begins with the narrator (Lemmy of Motörhead) introducing two families: the rich Capulets and the poor Ques. At the center of these families are Tromeo Que and Juliet Capulet. Tromeo lives in squalor with his poor, alcoholic father Monty and works at a tattoo parlor with his cousin Benny and friend Murray. Juliet is sequestered in her family's mansion, watched over by her abusive father Cappy, passive mother Ingrid, and overprotective cousin Tyrone, all the while being sexually satisfied by family servant Ness (Debbie Rochon). Both Tromeo and Juliet are trapped in cases of unrequited love: Tromeo lusts for the big-bosomed, promiscuous Rosie; Juliet is subjected into marrying wealthy meat tycoon London Arbuckle by her father who hopes of completing his mafia family tree. In the meantime, an intense duel between Murray and Sammy Capulet catches the attention of Detective Ernie Scalus, who gathers the heads of the two families together and declares that they will be held personally accountable for any further breaches of the peace. Almost immediately afterward, Monty and Cappy start threatening each other with weapons. Sammy, on the other hand, gets caught in the window of Monty's speeding car, where he is thrown head-first into a fire hydrant and gradually dies. On the insistence of Murray and Benny, Tromeo attends the Capulets' masquerade ball in the hopes of meeting Rosie, only to find another man performing cunnilingus on her. Tromeo staggers around the party in disillusion until he locks eyes with Juliet. The two instantly fall for each other and share a dance until an angry Tyrone chases him out of the house. Tromeo and Juliet continue to be enamored by one another from afar. Cappy, disgusted at his daughter's active libido, forcefully imprisons her in a plastic cage as punishment. Eventually, Tromeo sneaks into the house of Capulet and the two meet once again. After proclaiming their love for each other both verbally and physically, they agree to be married. Juliet breaks her engagement with Arbuckle and, with the help of Father Lawrence, the two are married in secrecy the next day. Tyrone, upon discovering Juliet's secret affair, gathers his gang together to find Tromeo in his family's parlor and accuse him of bridenapping. Now a kinsman to the Capulets, Tromeo reassures Tyrone that Juliet doesn't want Arbuckle as her husband anymore hence announcing a truce to both families. However, Tyrone refuses to believe him. Eventually, Murray stands by Tromeo's side to try and defend his honor but is fatally wounded by Tyrone's club as an example for anyone, besides Arbuckle, who dares to seduce Juliet. Tromeo, enraged by his friend's death, pursues Tyrone and slays him (through a series of car crashes that dismember him). As punishment for the murder of Tyrone in addition to ruining Arbuckle's wedding with Juliet, Detective Scalus evicts the Ques from Manhattan to ensure that his sacrifice won't be in vain on behalf of the Capulet family while Cappy savagely beats Juliet into reconciling with Arbuckle after learning from the late Tyrone that Juliet has already become Tromeo's wife, threatening to disown her if she doesn't. With the help of Cappy, Arbuckle accepts her re-proposal and the wedding date is set. Eventually, Juliet goes into hiding with Father Lawrence, whom she recruited along with Tromeo, who was recently evicted from his home by Scalus along with the rest of his family. Together, the three devise a plan to clear the Que family name and end the Capulet/Que feud for good, enlisting the help of Fu Chang, the apothecary, who sells Juliet a special potion which will aid her predicament. On the day of her wedding, Juliet drinks the apothecary's potion, transforming her into a hideous cow monster (complete with a three-foot penis). The mere sight of her causes Arbuckle to leap out of Juliet's window in fright, committing suicide in the process. Enraged over the loss of his would-be son-in-law and meat inheritance, Cappy deems Juliet a disgrace to the Capulet family and sentences her to death, but Tromeo arrives just in time to chase Cappy out of her room before he can rape her to death and bring Juliet's appearance back to normal by a single kiss. Meanwhile, Cappy was forced to retreat into the parlor to get his crossbow, and then returns to Juliet's room, ready to execute the newlyweds. Eventually, Juliet performs one last act of defiance against her father by electrocuting him to death with a computer monitor. After the Capulets' residence is successfully overtaken, Detective Scalus becomes impressed by Tromeo and Juliet's teamwork of ending Cappy's criminal empire, pardoning Tromeo of murder while ordering for Cappy's corpse to be transported by an ambulance to the morgue for cremation. With Cappy's criminal empire finally defeated, Tromeo and Juliet embrace victoriously until they are stopped short by Ingrid and Monty, who reveals to them the real reason behind the Capulet/Que feud: Long ago, Cappy and Monty were the owners of the successful Silky Films pornographic production company. Ingrid, married to Monty at the time, struck up an affair with Cappy, eventually birthing a son which Monty raised as his own. Faced with a divorce from Ingrid and the threat of having his son taken away from him, Monty was forced to sign over all the rights of Silky Films to the Capulets in exchange for his son. After the initial shock at the revelation that they are siblings, Tromeo and Juliet brush it off as they are determined not to let their whole ordeal be for naught; they passionately embrace and drive off into the sunset. The film picks up six years later in Tromaville, New Jersey, where Tromeo and Juliet, now married, have become suburban yuppies with a house and (birth defected/deformed) children of their own. The film ends with the narrator's brief poem for the lovers: "And all of our hearts free to let all things base go/As taught by Juliet and her Tromeo". A brief shot of William Shakespeare laughing uproariously is shown before the end credits.

Amy Benic takes a vacation at a spa outside New York City. Virgil Adamson is a masseur at the spa and gives Amy a massage. Amy inexplicably cries and Virgil comforts her. While complimenting Virgil on the massage, Amy realizes that Virgil is blind. Virgil asks her out, and the two eventually begin a relationship. Virgil lives alone, though his over-protective sister Jennie lives next door and takes care of him. Virgil reveals that he went blind when he was three and that the last thing he saw was something fluffy. While researching Virgil's condition, Amy learns of Doctor Charles Aaron, a specialist in eye treatment who suggests to Virgil that, with surgery, he could restore his sight. Virgil angrily refuses. Jennie reveals that their father left the family after putting Virgil through several kinds of treatments in order to restore his sight. Virgil eventually decides he will give the operation a try. It is a success, but after Virgil regains sight, he becomes confused and disoriented, unable to perceive light and distance. Dr. Aaron suggests that he should visit Phil Webster, a visual physiotherapist. Webster in turn suggests that Virgil needs to learn everything from scratch himself, through experience. Virgil and Amy begin living in New York City. The pair begin drifting apart, as Virgil finds it hard to decipher the look on Amy's face at times. Amy finds herself constantly having to explain basic things to Virgil. While at a party, Virgil walks into a glass pane due to his poor perception. Virgil's father sees him on television and arranges a reunion; Virgil goes to his father's workplace, but decides at the last minute that he cannot face him yet. On one of the regular visits with Webster, they engage in a deep conversation, where Webster notes that instead of just "seeing", Virgil should "look"; there are a lot of things that sight alone cannot solve. Virgil confesses that he and Amy are drifting apart, but insists that Amy is the most important thing in his life. Upon returning from a work trip to Atlanta, where she and her ex-husband shared a sensual moment, Amy decides to save the relationship. She finds Virgil in a park looking for "the horizon" in the city. Virgil's sight begins deteriorating. After consulting with Dr. Aaron, Virgil realizes that he is losing his sight yet again. He decides to look for his father. Virgil reveals to him that he is going blind again, and asks him why he left. His father tells him that he felt he was a failure when he did not find a way to help his son regain sight. Virgil states that he should not have left because his mother and sister suffered greatly after his father walked away. Virgil looks for Amy, who tells him about her plans to travel with him to places like Egypt and Europe. Withholding the fact that he is again going blind, Virgil tells her there is one thing he really wants to see, and brings her to a New York Rangers game. At the game, Virgil realizes that the "fluffy cloud" he last remembers seeing was cotton candy. He suffers a lengthened vision blackout and admits to Amy that he is going blind, which Amy refuses to accept. Back home, Virgil and Amy argue. He asks if she wants to spend her life with him if he is going to be blind forever. Amy hesitates, and Virgil decides to return home. Virgil eases back into his old way of life. While losing his sight, Virgil decides to look at as many things as possible, going through magazines and pictorial books in the library. He stays up to watch the sunset, seeing the horizon for the first and last time. After he has been blind again for some time, Virgil is at a park with a guide dog. Amy approaches and they reconnect. Amy apologizes to Virgil for trying to change him and for moving too fast. She asks if he wants to take a walk and "see what they see". They leave the park together.

Sleep Dealer is set in a future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor, and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, where three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the technology barriers. Memo Cruz works at a factory, one of several sleep dealers. Workers in these factories are connected to robots across the border, so they may control them. The story is told as a flashback, as Memo remembers his home in Santa Ana Del Rio, Oaxaca. His father wants him to participate in growing crops on the meager family homestead. Memo's passion, however, is electronics and hacking. Memo and his father must trek on foot to buy water by the bag while monitored by security cameras armed with machine guns. The media on American hi-def TV shows glimpses of a technological dystopia, although in a positive light with superficial spin-doctoring. Memo is building an electronic receiver that can tap into communications as a hobby. As he continues to work on it, its range increases to faraway cities. One summer, a remote-controlled military aerial vehicle operated by the security forces of Del Rio Water catches Memo monitoring a frequency used by the drones. This act warrants a brutal attack. He disconnects in time before the drone can locate him with certainty. On another occasion, he and his brother watch a live TV broadcast about a drone action that is about to destroy a building known to be intercepting drone communication. They quickly realize that the building is their own home, where Memo has his equipment, and run to save their father, whose life is in danger. However, they are too late, and the vehicle launches a rocket at the father, wounding him. The drone pilot then faces their father, seeing him through the drone’s camera, before killing him. The drone pilot is a Mexican-American named Rudy Ramirez. After the tragedy Memo boards a bus to Tijuana to find work in order to help sustain his family. On that same bus Memo meets Luz Martínez. Memo notices that Luz has nodes on the wrist for interfacing with the digital network and asks her where he can get them for free. She tells him that he can find someone, known as a coyotek, to connect him by asking around in a certain alley. Luz has loans and may default. She makes a living by uploading memories to an online memory trading company, TruNode, where viewers pay for content. Luz uploads her memory of meeting Memo to TruNode expecting nothing to come out of it. Memo is robbed of his money during his first attempt to seek a coyotek. He finds an abandoned shack in which to stay at the edge of the city, where other node workers live. Luz gets a sale for her memory of Memo and a prepaid offer for her next memory of him. Luz finds him and learns he is out of money. She helps him get a node job at a bar that has the equipment. She is the coyotek, having learned from her ex-boyfriend, and she does him a favor. Luz tries to upload more experiences. TruNode makes her reveal feelings rather than just the story. The person who requested the information is revealed to be Ramirez working for Del Rio Water. Luz and Memo open up to each other and have connected sex. Upon receiving the next upload, Ramirez has his doubts confirmed that his work made him kill a good man. Memo discovers that Luz has been paid to upload her memories of him, and so he leaves her feeling betrayed. He works overtime at the sleep dealer, risking exhaustion. Luz writes to him and mails him a recording of her memories as a parting gift. In the meantime, Ramirez has crossed the fortified US-Mexican border to meet Memo. As Ramirez explains himself, Memo tries to run, perceiving danger. Ramirez catches up and explains he was under orders and offers to help. Memo rejoins Luz and recruits her help to connect Ramirez to the network. He accesses the Del Rio Water security network to control one of the company's drones. Upon discovery that Ramirez is not heeding orders, other drones pursue Ramirez. After heated aerial dogfighting, Ramirez manages to blast a hole in the dam, directly where Memo's father had once tossed a pebble in helpless frustration. Memo receives news from his home and neighboring subsistence farms, celebrations of returning ancestral waters, albeit not necessarily a permanent one. Ramirez goes farther south in Mexico as he can no longer return to his family in the US. Memo moves on with his life in Tijuana.

Nick "The Zone" Falzone and his fellow air traffic controllers at the New York TRACON pride themselves on their ability to handle the intense stress of being a controller for one of the busiest airspaces in the country, even boasting of the 50% drop-out rate for new additions to staff unable to cope with the pressure. The group is joined by the quiet and confident Russell Bell, a veteran of TRACONs in the Western US. Russell quickly proves to be exceptionally capable of handling the increased workload using unorthodox and risky methods. Nick feels challenged by the new controller's ability to outperform him at seemingly every task. He warns his supervisor Russell is a loose cannon, especially after discovering that Russell once stood on a runway to allow himself to be violently propelled by a landing commercial airliner's wake turbulence. At a supermarket, Nick encounters Russell's despondent young wife Mary, who is sobbing over a grocery cart full of alcohol. In consoling her, he ends up at the Bells' house, where they cheat on their respective spouses. Several days later, Mary informs Nick that she immediately told Russell about their one-night stand and that the confession has actually improved their marriage. Fearing retaliation, Nick confronts Russell at work and is confused and surprised by his even-tempered response to the situation. Meanwhile, Nick's wife, Connie seems to become more and more intrigued by Russell, and Nick becomes increasingly paranoid that he will eventually seek revenge by having sex with her. While out of town for his father-in-law's funeral, Nick can't bring himself to lie when a grieving Connie challenges him to say that he has never cheated on her. As their flight home approaches New York, she sarcastically boasts that she slept with Russell. The plane then makes an odd turn, and he believes Russell is harassing him, or possibly going insane, purposely directing the plane into a dangerous storm. Soon after going to TRACON to confront Russell, a bomb threat is called into the facility. The building is evacuated and both Nick and Russell volunteer to stay behind to handle the daunting task of landing all the planes on approach before the alleged bomb is set to go off in 26 minutes. Successfully routing all but one plane that has lost radio contact, Nick leaves the building as the deadline approaches while Russell remains inside to make contact with the plane by calling one of its passengers via Airfone. Russell is lauded as a hero for making the effort despite the threat, which turned out to be a hoax. Russell abruptly quits and he and Mary move to Colorado. Connie leaves Nick, and his performance at work suffers; the once cocky, boastful controller is sent home after being responsible for two "deals" (near mid-air collisions) in one shift. After learning that Russell had ordered the diversion of his flight not to provoke him, but rather to clear a path to make a plane with a medical emergency on board next in line for a landing, Nick impulsively drives out to Colorado to make amends. Nick seeks his advice on how to get his personal life back in order, but Russell is unable to make him understand with words. He instead brings Nick to a runway so that he too can experience being caught in a landing aircraft's turbulence. They engage in the stunt together, and it has a profound effect on Nick, who thanks Russell. He returns to New York, where he regains his form at work, and reconciles with Connie.

Elizabeth McGraw, a young employee at a SoHo art gallery, meets John Gray, a Wall Street arbitrageur, at a Chinese grocer, and later at a flea market where he buys her an expensive shawl. They start dating, but John's strange behavior escalates, and he gives her an expensive gold watch with instructions to think about him touching her at noon every day. Elizabeth masturbates at work at the designated time. Elizabeth wants to introduce John to her friends, but he only wants to see her in the evenings and tells her to see her friends during the day. One evening, she is alone in his apartment and finds a photo of him with another woman. When John calls and asks if she went through his things, she admits it. He threatens to punish her, and returning home, he orders her to face the wall for a spanking. Elizabeth tries to leave, but the door is locked. John slaps her, she slaps him back and hits him repeatedly, and he has aggressive sex with her. Despite this, Elizabeth falls in love with John and starts to enjoy his dominant behavior. John takes control of all aspects of Elizabeth's life, from what she wears and eats to how he brushes her hair and feeds her. Elizabeth becomes increasingly dependent on John, losing her sense of self. One day, she follows John to work and brings him lunch, telling him she wants to be "one of the guys". John arranges for her to cross-dress for a rendezvous at a bar at the Algonquin Hotel, but after they leave, they are mistaken for a gay couple and attacked by a group of thugs in an alley. Elizabeth stabs one of the attackers in the buttocks, and they flee. Aroused by the incident, Elizabeth declares her love for John, takes off her dinner suit and has sex with him under a leaking drainpipe. John starts to make their BDSM -style relationship more apparent in public. He dares her to shoplift a necklace, and she does so. At the bedding section in Bloomingdale's, he asks Elizabeth to "spread your legs for daddy" in front of the saleswoman. At an equestrian store, he whips Elizabeth on the leg with a riding crop, which he buys. Later that evening, Elizabeth performs a striptease with the crop at John's apartment. One day, John asks Elizabeth to crawl and pick up money as he throws it on the floor of his apartment. Elizabeth initially obliges but then objects, and John threatens to hit her with his belt. Elizabeth cries and protests, but John continues to insist that she crawl and pick up the money. She eventually does so before throwing the money in John's face and declaring that she hates the game. Elizabeth feels confident at home with John, but she becomes withdrawn at work and thinks about her ex-husband Bruce, who starts dating her co-worker and roommate Molly. She goes to the countryside to visit an elderly artist named Matthew Farnsworth and secure an exhibit. Elizabeth meets John at a room at the Hotel Chelsea and is asked to wear a blindfold. John touches her briefly before a South American prostitute enters the room and caresses Elizabeth as John observes. Elizabeth becomes nervous, and the prostitute removes her blindfold. When John takes the prostitute to the next room and starts undressing her, Elizabeth hits him and flees. John follows her to an adult entertainment venue where Elizabeth starts kissing the man next to her during a live sex show. John approaches her, and they embrace. Elizabeth's gallery hosts a successful opening featuring Farnsworth's work. Farnsworth, uncomfortable with the partying crowd, finds Elizabeth in tears in a corner. She spends the night with John, but the next morning, she prepares to leave him. John tries to convince her to stay by telling her about his family and confessing his feelings, but Elizabeth responds that he knew their affair would end "when one of us said stop". As she leaves his apartment, John says he hopes she will return by the time he counts to 50. Elizabeth instead walks away through the crowded streets, crying.

In 2005, Alex lives in a village with his mother Klara and his cruel, unloving father Björn. Klara finally leaves the family, Alex's closest friend Anna moves to Stockholm, and Alex moves in with his uncle. Ten years later, Alex has become a famous musician in Stockholm. During Midsummer, the city is struck by multiple explosions, one of which kills his mother. Alex splits with his manager and goes back to his home village to buy the church piano that he and Anna used to play when they were younger. There, Alex again meets Anna, who has moved back to the village. When he learns that she has a husband, Kim, and daughter, Elin, he angrily departs. As attacks on Sweden worsen and the military is activated, people begin crashing their cars in the rain and Alex returns to help Anna and her family. After the Parliament is destroyed and communications networks become unavailable, Anna's mother, a government minister, manages to escape Stockholm and heads into the country, where she is rescued by the military. Meanwhile, Alex's father Björn, who works at a transformer station, kills a group of armed men who are attacking the electricity network. Helicopters and dead birds crash to the ground, apparently affected by contaminated rain, and civilians come to the station seeking safety in its bomb shelter. Among them are Anna and Alex, who is injured and unconscious. After Anna leaves in search of Elin, Alex comes to and tells his unapologetic father that Klara is dead. Anna returns with her daughter and tells Alex that her husband and many others were killed by helicopters. However, Kim is in fact alive. When helicopters approach the power station, the civilians head to the village church to meet the military, whom they have contacted by radio. The enemy attacks the military and kills Anna's mother, but Alex destroys an enemy helicopter by crashing a car into it and Björn takes down another helicopter by crashing his plane into it. He dies but saves Alex, Anna, and Elin. In the village church, which has been destroyed and is on fire, Alex tells Anna that Kim is still alive, then plays the piano until he loses his memory due to chemical weapons in the rain. Anna is taken away by Kim. News clips during the credits indicate that 800,000 Swedes have lost their memory, and images of Vladimir Putin suggest that Russia was behind the attacks.

The movie begins with Donald Foley retrieving curling stones from a lake near Long Bay, Ontario. Foley dies after retrieving the stones, and a codicil to his will demands that the curling rink he formerly coached be re-assembled, and enter a bonspiel to win the Golden Broom by placing a stone containing his ashes on the button. The team's skip, Chris Cutter, had skipped town ten years ago over the shame of failing to call a burnt stone, abandoning his fiancée Julie Foley (Donald's daughter) at the altar, and throwing the team's stones into the lake. Chris returns to Long Bay, where he convinces the former members of his team, Neil Bucyk, James Lennox, and Eddie Strombeck, to enter the competition for the Golden Broom. While the rink practices for the Golden Broom tournament, Chris tries to make amends with Julie, which is complicated by his feelings for her younger sister Amy. Neil deals with his resentment towards his wife, and unhappiness at running a funeral home inherited from his father-in-law. Eddie deals with his low sperm count and dissatisfaction about being unable to father children. James is working as a minor drug dealer, and tries to raise money to pay off a supplier to whom he is indebted. After losing a match to an extremely elderly rink, the team realises they need a coach to be prepared for the bonspiel. Chris reconciles with his estranged father Gordon Cutter, so he will coach them. Gordon trains the team for the upcoming bonspiel. In the first match of the bonspiel, the rink plays another one, skipped by former Olympian Alexander Yount. Chris again fails to call a burnt stone, demoralising himself, the rest of his rink, and his father. Chris goes drinking at a bar, where Amy meets him and informs him she and Julie have come to an understanding; Julie accepts that he and Amy love one another, and once Chris accepts it they can be together. Julie, an astronaut will meanwhile be blasted off into space. Chris goes to his mother's grave where he encounters his father; they reconcile, and Gordon tells him to go be with Amy. Neil quits the rink, and is replaced by Gordon. However, in the second to last match, Gordon once again throws out his back and is unable to curl. However, Chris and his rink manage to win the match. In the final match of the bonspiel, the rink once again meets Yount's. With Gordon injured, Chris is forced to curl with a rink of three. Down 6-0 early, Gordon laments that they "need a good lead man." At this time, Neil and his wife are at the country club. Joanne rushes to the club and convinces Neil to rejoin the rink. Chris and his rink stage a comeback, and are now within victory. On the critical final shot, one of the sweepers burns the stone, noticed only by Chris. In this instance, Chris calls the burn. Yount allows Chris to retake the shot, to which Chris changes up his shot. Chris throws his father's rock directly at the centre of the house with great force, smashing it and the rock it collided with. A large piece of granite lands directly on the button, along with Coach Foley's ashes. Chris and his rink have not only won the Golden Broom bonspiel, but have also fulfilled Coach Finley's final wish. In the end the team resolves their issues: Chris finally connects with Amy, Neil and Joanne talk about his dream to own a plant nursery and not run the funeral home, Eddie finally impregnates his wife and James finally is forgiven his debt to his drug supplier, as the collector is from a long line of curlers.

Joe Banks is a downtrodden everyman from Staten Island, working a clerical job in a dreary factory for an unpleasant, demanding boss, Frank Waturi. Joyless, listless and chronically sick, Banks regularly visits doctors who can find nothing wrong with him. Finally, Dr. Ellison diagnoses an incurable disease called a "brain cloud", which has no symptoms, but will kill him within five or six months. Ellison says that the symptoms he has been experiencing are actually psychosomatic, caused by trauma in his previous job as a firefighter. Ellison advises him to live the few remaining months of his life well. Joe tells his boss off, quits his job, and asks former coworker DeDe out on a date. Their date is a success, but when Joe tells DeDe that he is dying, she tells him she cannot deal with the revelation and leaves. The next day, a wealthy industrialist named Samuel Graynamore makes Joe an unexpected proposition. Graynamore needs "bubaru", a mineral essential for manufacturing superconductors. There are deposits of it on the tiny Pacific island of Waponi Woo, but the resident Waponis will only let him mine it if he solves a problem for them. They believe that the fire god of the volcano on their island must be appeased by a voluntary human sacrifice once every century, but none of them are willing to volunteer this time around. Graynamore offers to pay for whatever Joe wants to enjoy his final days, as long as he jumps into the volcano within 20 days. With nothing to lose, Joe accepts. Joe spends a day and a night out on the town in New York City, where he solicits advice on everything from style to living life to the fullest from his chauffeur, Marshall. He also purchases four top-of-the-line, waterproof steamer trunks from a fanatically dedicated luggage salesman. Joe then flies to Los Angeles, where he is met by one of Graynamore's daughters, Angelica, a flighty socialite. The next morning, Angelica takes Joe to her father's yacht, the Tweedledee. The captain is her half-sister Patricia. Patricia has reluctantly agreed to take Joe to Waponi Woo; Graynamore has promised to give her the yacht in return. After an awkward beginning, Joe and Patricia begin to bond. Then they run into a typhoon. Patricia is knocked unconscious and flung overboard. After Joe jumps in to rescue her, lightning strikes, sinking the yacht. Joe is able to construct a raft by lashing together his steamer trunks. Patricia does not regain consciousness for several days. Joe doles out the small supply of fresh water to her, while he gradually becomes delirious from thirst. He experiences a revelation during his delirium and thanks God for his life. When Patricia finally awakens, she is deeply touched by Joe's self-sacrifice. They then find that they have luckily drifted to their destination. The Waponis treat them to a grand feast. Their leader, Chief Tobi, asks one last time if anyone else will volunteer, but there are no takers and Joe heads to the volcano. Patricia tries to stop him, declaring her love for him. He admits he loves her as well, "but the timing stinks." Patricia persuades Joe to have the chief marry them. Afterwards, Patricia refuses to be separated from her new husband. When Joe is unable to dissuade her, they jump in together, but the volcano erupts at that moment, blowing them out into the ocean. The island sinks, but Joe and Patricia land near Joe's trusty steamer trunks. At first ecstatic about their miraculous salvation, Joe tells Patricia about his fatal brain cloud. She recognizes the name of Joe's doctor as that of her father's crony and realizes that Joe has been set up. He is not dying and they can live happily ever after.

A few years after the events of the television series, Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big are in a committed relationship and preparing to move in together. They find an expensive penthouse in New York City, which Big buys for them both to live in. Concerned about her lack of legal rights if they separate, Carrie considers selling her apartment to contribute financially. Big proposes marriage, and Carrie accepts. Carrie is invited by Vogue editor Enid to be featured in the magazine's bridal couture "Age Issue". She models several designer gowns and is especially drawn to a Vivienne Westwood dress, which is later gifted to her by the designer. The attention surrounding the dress leads Carrie to deviate from her original plan of a small, intimate wedding to a large, elaborate extravaganza. The scale of the event begins to cause anxiety for Big, who has been divorced twice. Miranda Hobbes is struggling in her marriage to Steve. Their intimacy has declined due to work and parenting responsibilities. Steve admits to having an affair, and Miranda decides to leave him. At Carrie and Big's rehearsal dinner, Steve attempts to reconcile with Miranda, but still hurt and upset by his betrayal, she bitterly tells Big that marriage ruins everything. On the day of the wedding, Big experiences doubts and calls Carrie to cancel. Carrie, heartbroken, leaves the venue. When Big tries to speak to her outside, she hits him with her bouquet. Miranda admits to Charlotte York that she may have upset Big, but Charlotte dissuades her from telling Carrie, as Big has always had doubts about marriage. Carrie travels to Mexico with Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha Jones on what was meant to be her honeymoon to recover from her heartbreak. Upon returning to New York, Carrie hires an assistant, Louise, to help her reorganize her life. Louise eventually reconciles with her ex-boyfriend and moves back to St. Louis to marry him. Charlotte, who previously faced fertility challenges, learns that she is pregnant. Miranda confesses to Carrie that she made a discouraging remark about marriage to Big the night before the wedding. Carrie is angered and blames her for influencing Big's decision. Miranda later apologizes, and Carrie forgives her. Carrie encourages her to consider forgiving Steve, and the couple attends counseling and reconciles. Samantha is living in Los Angeles with Smith, whose acting career is thriving. She becomes increasingly dissatisfied with the dwindling sex in their relationship, especially as she finds herself attracted to her neighbour, Dante. Rather than cheat on Smith, who supported her through her battle with breast cancer, she turns to comfort eating. Eventually, recognizing her unhappiness, she breaks up with Smith and moves back to New York. A heavily pregnant Charlotte runs into Big at a restaurant, and the encounter causes her water to break. Big takes her to the hospital and waits nearby in hopes of speaking with Carrie. Harry informs Carrie that Big had sent her numerous emails, which she discovers were stored by Louise. The messages include famous love letters and an original note apologizing and expressing his love. Carrie goes to the penthouse to retrieve a pair of shoes and finds Big there. They reconcile and get married at New York City Hall in the simple original dress suit she had intended to wear before being gifted the Westwood gown. Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha arrive to celebrate with them, having been invited by Big. The four friends later raise a toast to Samantha's 50th birthday and the years ahead.

A New York couple, Rachel and Alvy, live in a not-so-distant future. A rising tech company executive, Rachel lands a coveted spot on the waitlist for the Womb Center, which offers couples maternity by way of detachable artificial wombs, or pods. Alvy, a botanist with an affection for nature, prefers a natural pregnancy. Despite their different perspectives, they decide to go forward with the Womb Center's services in order to conceive a child.