Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.
In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.
Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.
Lyudmila is a successful realtor in the capital. Pictures from the past pop up in her memory, and the viewer learns at what cost a single mother from the province managed to cherish Moscow's well-being. Lyudmila's story is typical, it reflects, like in a mirror, the pain points of modern life, forcing us to make our hourly choices. Is it worth a deal with the conscience of material comfort? Is it possible to achieve success in a megalopolis today and remain an honest person? Won't a "bright future" built on betrayal of one's own ideals lead to the decline of genuine human values?
After his colleague Schweitzer goes missing during a drug raid, undercover cop Till Hager is tasked with tracking down a mysterious new drug called "Abaddon" - a substance which supposedly drags it's users down the deepest depths of hell.
A character is inside a cubical room; there is a hole in the roof, which is too high to reach. But pushing on the walls distorts the room in various ways, always appearing to bring the hole closer while still leaving it tantalizingly inaccessible.
Carol White, a Los Angeles housewife in the late 1980s, comes down with a debilitating illness with no clear diagnosis.
A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
The managers of a textile enterprise use various scams to obtain all kinds of personal benefits, until the machinations exposed.
Sanya, a rebellious contemporary girl but a poet at heart, escapes her strict orthodox father's house in search of a new life.
500 years into the future, the earth is a dry wasteland destroyed by humans. Doctor Alma, a fluffy, brilliant Vulkeet (a cross between a parakeet and vulture) who drives a Vespa, must cure the only creatures left who can save the world by bringing back the rain - the bizarre and loveable Homeys who have fallen ill with a mysterious sickness.
A portrayal of the lives of the people living in North Madras, focusing on the politics inside the slums and how their plight remains the same, despite the political class luring them constantly during elections.
Two adult siblings, confined to their childhood home, live under the lingering presence of their parents, whose memory is mirrored in a portrait on the wall. They strive to preserve their existence through a “sacred ceremony” of nourishment and cleansing. Trapped in the family’s gilded cage, they become both inmates and bathers, with heightened senses that console and are consoled, faithful to rituals that have vanished from modern times, where everyone is violated by the rush of time. In a classic urban house, marked by decay, they tend to each other like young mammals in the wild— with love, with exposure, with violence, frustration, and shame.
Two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group.
Over 3 studio sessions, a dancer overcomes his self-doubt and regains his self-confidence through this other character pushing him to get out of his comfort zone. His anxiety is represented through the delay of his reflection in the dance studio mirror.
A mysterious girl, Pennu, comes to a quiet village, creating a strange chasm among the male folks, breaking marriages and old friendships.
A subway enforcement officer working in the oppressively gray Budapest metro gets a chance at love — but first he needs to find out why passengers are jumping — or being pushed — to their deaths onto the tracks.
Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.