In 1965, Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), a bright but somewhat naive young housewife, and Guy (John Cassavetes), her husband and a struggling actor, move into the Bramford, an antiquated New York City apartment building. The couple learns from the building's manager, Mr. Nicklas (Elisha Cook, Jr.), that their new residence was previously inhabited by Mrs. Gardenia, an elderly woman who had seemingly gone senile. Guy also discovers a dresser concealing a simple closet which contains nothing except a vacuum cleaner and a few other household items. Their friend Hutch (Maurice Evans) tries to dissuade them from taking the apartment, informing them of some of the Bramford's rather unseemly history but, undeterred, Rosemary and Guy move into the building.
In 2079, CIA agent Snow is arrested for murdering undercover agent Frank Armstrong, who had uncovered evidence of another agent selling secrets about the space program. Secret Service director Scott Langral, on advice from the President, has Snow convicted of murder and espionage. Snow is sentenced to thirty years on the maximum security space penitentiary MS One, where prisoners are kept in stasis for the length of their sentence. Snow's friend and fellow agent Harry Shaw tries to locate Snow's contact Mace, who knows where Frank's briefcase containing the stolen secrets is hidden.
Emma (Monica Potter) and John Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn), and their daughter, competitive swimmer Mari (Sara Paxton), head out on vacation to their lake house. Shortly thereafter, Mari borrows the family car and drives into town to spend some time with her friend Paige (Martha MacIsaac). While Paige works the cash register at a local store, she and Mari meet Justin (Spencer Treat Clark), a teenager passing through town who invites them both back to his roadside motel room to smoke some marijuana. While the three are hanging out in the motel room, Justin's family members return: Krug (Garret Dillahunt), Justin’s father; Francis (Aaron Paul), Justin’s uncle; and Sadie (Riki Lindhome), Krug’s girlfriend.
One night at a bar, a working-class woman, Sarah Tobias (Foster), is gang raped by several drunk bar patrons, while drunken onlookers cheer them on. The assistant district attorney, Kathryn Murphy (McGillis), who is assigned to the rape case wants to drop the case. After a heated argument, she is admonished by her superior to enter a plea bargain with the rapists requiring some jail time. Sarah is enraged by the deal, mostly because she did not get to tell her story in court.
Kang In-ho (Gong Yoo) is the newly appointed art teacher at Benevolence Academy, a deaf school children in the fictional city of Mujin, North Jeolla Province. He has a dark past - his wife was a high school student who committed suicide and his daughter is under the care of his mother. He is excited to teach his new students, yet the children are aloof and distant, trying to avoid running into him as much as possible. In-ho does not give up, however, trying to show the kids that he cares. When the children finally open up, In-ho faces the shocking and ugly truth about the school and what the students have been enduring in secret: the children are being physically and sexually abused by their teachers. When he decides to fight for the children’s rights and expose the crimes being committed at the school, In-ho teams up with human rights activist Seo Yoo-jin (Jung Yu-mi). But he and Yoo-jin soon realize the school’s principal and teachers, and even the police, prosecutors and churches in the community are actually trying to cover up the truth. In addition to using "privileges of former post" (Jeon-gwan ye-u) the accused do not hesitate to lie and bribe their way to get very light sentences.
In a god-forsaken, off-season French seaside town we meet "Mellie" (Marlène Jobert), who watches a mysterious stranger step down from the bus into the pouring rain. He follows and eventually rapes her, while her husband (an airline navigator) is away from home.
Thadeous and Fabious are sons of King Tallious in the Kingdom of Mourne. They are warriors: Fabious is dashing and skilled and Thadeous is lazy and ineffectual. While celebrating his latest victory over the evil sorcerer, Leezar, who has been ravaging Tallious's kingdom, Fabious introduces the virgin Belladonna whom he has freed from a tower and wishes to marry. Though his brother makes him the best man, Thadeous skips the wedding after overhearing Fabious's Knights Elite, led by Boremont, talk about him negatively. The wedding is then crashed by Leezar, who reveals himself to be the one who placed Belladonna in the tower. Leezar re-kidnaps her and flees. Returning to the castle with his servant Courtney, Thadeous is given an ultimatum: join Fabious on his quest to rescue Belladonna or be banished from Mourne.
Genetic engineers Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) hope to achieve fame by splicing animal DNA to create hybrids for medical use at the company N.E.R.D. (short for Nucleic Exchange Research and Development). Their work previously yielded Fred, a dog-sized vermiform creature intended as a mate for their female specimen, Ginger. After successfully mating them, Clive and Elsa plan to create a human-animal hybrid that could revolutionize science. Their employers Joan Chorot (Simona Maicanescu) of N.E.R.D. and William Barlow (David Hewlett) forbid them from doing this. Instead, they are to find and extract proteins used for commercial drug production from Fred and Ginger. Clive and Elsa pursue their own agenda in secret. They develop a viable female creature (Abigail Chu).
Karen McCann (Sally Field) is happily married to Mack (Ed Harris) and has two daughters, 17-year-old Julie (Olivia Burnette) (from Karen's previous marriage) and six-year-old Megan (Alexandra Kyle). She lives in a nice house in Santa Monica, California and has a good job in a museum.
In futuristic London, Alex DeLarge is the leader of his "droogs", Georgie, Dim and Pete. One night, after getting intoxicated on "drencrom" (milk laced with drugs), they engage in an evening of "ultra-violence," which includes beating an elderly vagrant and fighting a rival gang led by Billyboy. After stealing a car, they drive to the country home of writer F. Alexander, where they beat Mr. Alexander to the point of crippling him for life. Alex then rapes his wife while singing "Singin' in the Rain".
In October 1986, a young woman is found raped and murdered in a ditch near a field. Soon after, another woman is found raped and murdered in a field. Local detective Park Doo-man, not having dealt with such a serious case before, is overwhelmed; key evidence is improperly collected, the police's investigative methods are suspect, and their forensic technology is near non-existent. Detective Seo Tae-yoon is sent from Seoul to assist them; their methods clash and he is unable to convince them they are dealing with a serial killer until his predictions of another murder come true. He realizes that the killer waits until a rainy night, and only kills women wearing red. A female police officer realizes that a local radio station is always requested to play a particular song during the nights the murders are committed.
In 1989, Josey Aimes returns to her hometown in northern Minnesota with her children, Sammy and Karen, after escaping from her abusive husband. She moves in with her parents, Alice and Hank. Hank is ashamed of Josey, who had Sammy as a teenager by an unknown father and therefore thinks Josey is promiscuous. The townspeople believe the same, which causes the community not to associate with her. Her only friends are Glory Dodge and Glory's husband, Kyle. Glory, who works at the local iron mines (the town's main source of income), aids Josey in getting a job there. Glory and Kyle also allow Josey to stay at their home with her children, due to Josey's poor relationship with her father.
Rebellious teenager Rachel screams, swears and drinks; she is, in a word, uncontrollable. With her latest car crash, Rachel has broken the final rule in her mother Lily's San Francisco home. With nowhere else to take the impulsive and rambunctious girl, Lily hauls her daughter to the one place she swore she'd never return—her own mother's house in Idaho. Matriarch Georgia lives her life by a number of unbreakable rules—God comes first, and hard work comes a very close second—and wants that anyone who shares her home do the same. Now saddled with raising the young woman, it requires each patient breath she takes to understand Rachel's fury.
At a run-down gas station in the middle of the desert, an old man, Fred (John Steadman), is packing his truck when a ragged and somewhat feral teenage girl named Ruby (Janus Blythe) approaches him. She offers to trade what she has in her bag for food, but the old man refuses. They walk into a small cabin, and Fred scolds her for what "they" have done. Ruby says that her family ambushed a nearby airfield because they were hungry and no one passes by their home anymore. She pleads with Fred to take her with him, but he refuses and warns Ruby that she could be in danger if "the pack", in particular someone named Jupiter, learns what she is doing. She replies that his life will be in danger as well if Jupiter finds out that he is trying to leave. A noise distracts them, and Ruby hides.
Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong), a high school student and budding neo-Nazi in Venice Beach, California, receives an assignment from Mr. Murray (Elliott Gould), his history teacher, to write a paper on "any book which relates to the struggle for human rights". Knowing Murray is Jewish, Danny writes his paper on Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Murray attempts to get Danny expelled for doing this, but Principal Dr. Bob Sweeney (Avery Brooks) — who is black — refuses, instead informing Danny that he will study history and current events under Sweeney, and that the class will be called "American History X". Danny's first assignment is to prepare a paper on his brother Derek (Edward Norton), a former neo-Nazi leader who has just been released from prison after serving three years for voluntary manslaughter. Danny is warned that failing to submit the paper the next morning will result in his expulsion. The rest of the film alternates between a series of vignettes from Danny and Derek's shared past (distinguished by being shown in black and white), and present day events (shown in color).