Mike (Tom Hanks) is observing his two sons fighting; with one insisting that a promise doesn't mean anything. To make them understand that a promise does mean something, he tells them the story of his youth. Young Mike (Elijah Wood), his little brother Bobby (Joseph Mazzello), their mother Mary (Lorraine Bracco) and their German Shepherd Shane move to a new town after their father/husband leaves them. There, Mary marries a new man named Jack (Adam Baldwin), who likes the others to call him "The King". Unbeknownst to Mary, the King is an alcoholic who often gets drunk and beats Bobby.
Nomadic, flaky Caroline Wolff (Ellen Barkin) wants to settle down in one place, find a decent man, and provide a better home for her and her son, Tobias "Toby" Wolff (Leonardo DiCaprio). When she moves to Seattle, Washington, and meets the seemingly respectable Dwight Hansen (Robert De Niro) (in real life Dwight Thompson worked as a mechanic for Seattle City Light at the time), she thinks she has accomplished her goals. Toby, however, comes to feel differently; Dwight's true personality is revealed after Toby spends a few months separated from his mother with Dwight and his children. The boy's stepfather-to-be seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but his method includes emotionally, verbally and physically abusing the boy.
Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai), a Punjabi woman, marries Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) in an arranged marriage and moves to Southall, UK with him to be closer to his family. Initially he seems caring and affectionate towards her but soon enough the true colors of her husband begin to show as Deepak gradually reveals a darker, threatening, and even sociopathic side of himself. After enduring ten years of abuse and having two children with him, Kiranjit, unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes at the hands of her husband any longer, sets fire to his feet while he is sleeping, unintentionally killing him. Charged with murder, her case comes to the notice of a group of South Asian social workers running an under funded organization called the Southall Black Sisters.
On March 11, 2005, Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo) escapes from the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta, during his trial involving a rape case. In the process of the escape he murders the judge presiding over his trial, Rowland Barnes, as well as court reporter Julie Brandau. He also shoots Sergeant Hoyt Teasley while escaping from the prison, and then Special Agent David G. Wilhelm at his home. Nichols becomes the subject of a citywide manhunt. His frantic escape brings him to the apartment of Ashley Smith (Kate Mara), a single mother and recovering methamphetamine addict, whom he holds hostage. Smith gets through this time inspired by Rick Warren's best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, while Nichols searches for redemption. As she reads aloud, Ashley and her would-be killer come to a crossroads.
Long victim of her husband, violent and alcoholic, Rose Mayer, the Walloon countryside, decided to take their destiny in hand, and kills by crushing it with their car after leaving prison for having crushed a girl with the same car. She joined her son, homosexual, in Brussels, who left the family hell the day of his 16th birthday. But freedom does not erase guilt and family stories are not without contradictions. Rose does find its place in his new life?
One night, unemployed widower Joseph (Peter Mullan) drunkenly kicks his dog Bluey to death. He buries the dog and goes to the post office, where he mocks some Asian workers then throws a brick through the window when they tell him to leave. At the pub, Joseph attacks two young men playing pool one of whom threatened and mocked him. He then hides in a second-hand shop, where employee Hannah (Olivia Colman) offers to pray for him. That night, Joseph goes to his home and is attacked by the men from the post office. The next morning, Joseph wakes up and goes to the shop, where Hannah looks after him. He begins to berate and insult her, before leaving.
In Tokyo, sociology student Akiko (Rin Takanashi) moonlights as a high-end prostitute. Her jealous boyfriend, Noriaki (Ryō Kase) is suspicious, but does not know about her work.
Maggie Conley has a miscarriage after an argument with her husband Chris turns physical. To save their marriage, they move to a large house in rural Virginia. There, they are met by real estate agent Rob Bradley, who explains that the house has been converted into a duplex. An quiet, elderly couple, the Andersons, rent the other half of the house. As constant storms have made public utilities prohibitively expensive, Bradley suggests that they use cell phones and a generator. After showing them the house, Bradley comes upon a locked door and offers to return in a week with the key. Later, Chris declines Maggie's offer to start the generator and insists on doing it himself. That night, Chris celebrates with mixed alcoholic drinks. Annoyed that he has resumed drinking, Maggie declines to join him in bed.
In a working class London district lives Raymond, his wife Valerie, her brother Billy, Billy's mother Janet and their grandmother Kath. Billy is a drug addict whom Raymond kicks out. The family is dysfunctional, mostly due to Raymond's short temper and violent outbursts.
Miriam Besson (Léa Drucker) et Antoine Besson (Denis Ménochet) ont deux enfants : une fille, Joséphine (Mathilde Auneveux) sur le point d'être majeure et un fils de onze ans, Julien (Thomas Gioria). Le couple est en plein divorce. La mère veut protéger son fils et l’éloigner de son père qu’elle accuse de commettre des actes de violence sur ses enfants. Elle demande donc, lors du jugement, la garde exclusive de l’enfant, d’autant que le fils ne veut plus revoir son père. Malgré les arguments de Miriam et son avocate ainsi qu'une lettre de Julien demandant à ne plus voir son père, la juge chargée du dossier accorde une garde partagée et contraint l’enfant à passer un week-end sur deux avec son père.
Los Angeles housewife and mother Mabel loves her construction worker husband Nick and desperately wants to please him, but the strange mannerisms and increasingly odd behavior she displays while in the company of others has him concerned. Convinced she has become a threat to herself and others, he reluctantly commits her to an institution, where she undergoes treatment for six months.
Dixon "Dix" Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is a down-on-his-luck Hollywood screenwriter who has not had a hit "since before the war." While driving to meet his agent, Mel Lippman (Art Smith), at a nightclub, Dix's explosive temper is revealed at a stoplight along the way in a confrontation with another motorist that almost becomes violent.
Lucas (Jacques Dutronc) inventeur génial d'un nouveau langage de programmation, apprend qu'il est atteint d'une maladie rare qui touche sa mémoire. Il rencontre Blanche (Sophie Marceau), une jeune femme désaxée qui le fascine. Célèbre pour ses séances d’hypnose où elle se dénude en révélant les secrets les plus noirs des spectateurs, elle vit sous la coupe d'une mère abusive et nymphomane. Ces deux êtres hors normes vivent alors une histoire d'amour passionnelle, mouvementée et tragique, où calembours et dialogues surréalistes tiennent lieu de mots d'amour.
Georg Hoffmann est policier, Anne, son épouse, est institutrice. Leurs deux enfants ne vivent plus chez eux. Respectés et appréciés dans leurs milieux professionnels respectifs, ils forment apparemment un couple équilibré. Mais, ce n'est qu'une pure façade : Anne, insatisfaite, est devenue une femme violente qui maltraite son mari. Georg accepte avec résignation cette situation. Déchiré, le couple demeure pourtant uni face à l'adversité…