A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
Veronica, a woman fed up with the routine of her life, runs away from the van in which she is traveling with her husband. Marcela, a taxi driver, will help her escape from it. Together, they will travel through Mexico City, sing at the top of their lungs, cry, count planes in the sky and become friends for an afternoon.
Stockholm, in the 1950s. Erik is expelled from the local school for getting into one brawl too many. To protect Erik from his violent stepfather’s reaction to his expulsion, Erik's mother arranges for Erik to spend a year at Stjärnsberg Boarding School, the only school willing to accept him. This is Erik's last chance to graduate to Upper School and he promises his mother, for his and her sake, to do all he can to stay out of trouble.
From an ominous Lecturer, a small 1930s middle American community learns of the Harper Affair, in which young Jimmy Harper finds his life of promise turn into a life of debauchery and murder thanks to the new drug menace marijuana. Along the way, he receives help from his girlfriend Mary and Jesus Himself, but always finds himself in the arms of the Reefer Man and the rest of the denizens of the Reefer Den.
Laura Ullman, a single mother, kills her abusive ex-boyfriend and turns the gun on her son when he threatens to call the police. Paul leaves home to start a better life and falls for Ashley, a young woman looking for direction in her life, unaware of his past troubles.
Can the thread of bad luck, violence and suffering which is braided deeply into the generations of one family be broken? Beba's mother is a woman of poor health and weak character. Beba's father is sullen and violent. Beba's brother is possessive and problematic. Beba's boyfriend is from a correctional institution. Has Beba's daughter any chance to break this vicious circle, has she got any chance to become a beloved, happy person?
A waitress confronts all the wrong turns she has made in her short life and ultimately ends up facing the biggest wrong turn of all: her dangerous ex-boyfriend who's determined to win back her love or die trying.
Heavily pregnant and in the early summer heat, Mina has wandered up into the Montenegrin mountains in search of answers to the problems she is facing with her partner, Daniel. She longs for him, but she is full of doubt. A woman in the mountains tells her to find a dying tree and cure it by tying yarn around it - doing so will give her clarity, the woman says. On the way to the dying trees, Mina reflects on her relationship with Daniel. The task is challenging and puts Mina to the test, but the journey gives her a break from home with Daniel and all the noise of past events with him. She finds the silence and peace of mind she's been missing, and finally she is once again able to see her own life and Daniel in a clear light.
A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a child leads her and her best friend, also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
A woman, married off to an abusive butcher, is overpowered by the twin forces of patriarchy and tradition in Taiwan during circa 1920 to 1945.
Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men - a good and an evil side. He believes that by separating the two, man can become liberated. He succeeds in his experiments with chemicals to accomplish this and transforms into Hyde to commit horrendous crimes. When he discontinues use of the drug, it is already too late.
Dr. Jekyll believes good and evil exist in everyone and creates a potion that allows his evil side, Mr. Hyde, to come to the fore. He faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run amok.
An unhappy young woman from an abusive family is married off to a fearsome and chilly army commander. But the two learn more about each other, love may have a chance.
A teenage girl is held captive in the home of a wealthy family. She is befriended by the family's young gardener, himself an illegal from Mexico. Their friendship carries both of them through their hopeless, sequestered lives and ultimately inspires them to break free.
A cynical NYPD domestic violence officer ends up falling in love with a woman running away from her obsessive and abusive husband.
A teenage boy named David is afraid of being transparent. When David's best friend, Johnathan, notices his abuse at home, David must overcome his fear of rejection in order to embrace his friend's support.
Charles, an attorney, and Helen, his devoted wife, seem to have everything – money, a beautiful mansion – the American Dream. However, as Helen prepares to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary, her life takes an unexpected twist when she comes home to find her clothes packed up in a U-Haul van parked in the driveway. Charles is divorcing her and kicks her out. Helen moves in with her grandmother Madea, an old woman who doesn't take any lip from anyone. Madea helps Helen through these tough times by showing her what is really important in life. Helen is forced to rediscover love, life, and religion in her pursuit for happiness.
Two stories for the price of one: a video store clerk tries to get acquainted with a waitress; a man beats his pregnant wife, unaware that her brother is a violent racist.
Their job is stealing, their lives a cruel dead end. Director Jon Alpert takes his cameras undercover for this hard-hitting look at men who live by theft and suffer addiction. Focusing on a year in the lives of three professional criminals, this gritty profile—which includes hidden-camera footage of actual thefts—exposes the "petty" crimes that are paralyzing America.
Eight Māori female directors have each contributed a sequence to this powerful and challenging feature which unfolds around the tangi of a small boy who died at the hands of his caregiver.