Growing up in a small rural farm town in the early 1950's, sixteen- year-old Jimmy Hoffer, and his two siblings do their best to survive poverty and a crumbling family unit.
Samuel is a wild-looking twelve-year-old orphan who has been placed with a nanny, Marie, for several weeks. Marie, who is struggling between her feelings and her need for money, is married to Clément with whom she has two sons, Alexis and Dimitri. Very quickly Samuel will have to get to know this new family and their possible secrets.
Aviva is thirteen, awkward and sensitive. Her mother Joyce is warm and loving, as is her father, Steve, a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time. The film revolves around her family, friends and neighbors.
Justine is a young woman with a fierce intelligence but an equally strong appetite for self-destruction. She finds herself suffocated within a world that makes little sense and where alcohol is the only escape from her view of a hopeless future. When she meets Rachel, the possibility of happiness, love and a future starts to emerge. But her pain goes deep and as the demons within her begin to surface, she wonders if she can allow herself to hope.
Young, impulsive Rosetta lives a hard and stressful life as she struggles to support herself and her alcoholic mother. Refusing all charity, she is desperate to maintain a dignified job.
Daniel has just been released from prison and is trying to make a new life for himself. Between taking care of his alcoholic mother and finding a job, he might be able to find some happiness and normalcy in a new relationship.
A man without attachments or responsibilities suddenly finds himself with an abandoned baby and leaves for London to try and find the mother. Eight years later after he and his daughter become inseparable Gloria's mother reappears.
Erik is a university student struggling to find work in the games design industry. At home he battles living with his emotionally abusive and alcoholic mother who will stop at nothing to hinder his success.
A runaway orphan, young Sonora, persists in a menial job mucking stables in Doc Carver's travelling stunt show. Her great wish is to become a death-defying "diving girl," but Doc refuses her pleas. Undaunted, Sonora's gutsy resolve finally convinces him to give her a break. On the brink of stardom, however, a cruel twist of fate threatens to destroy her dream.
When a 15-year old, seeking an escape from her alcoholic mother's abusive boyfriend, is lured into a sex trafficking scheme by a man she met online, she must realize the difference between love and manipulation to return to those who care.
Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cursed with a philandering pornographer husband, a parasitic mother, and a pair of delinquent children, the long-suffering Francine Fishpaw turns to the bottle as her life falls apart -- until deliverance appears in the form of a hunk named Todd Tomorrow.
Desperate to be free from her drunken, unloving mother Diane, the beautiful, scheming young Mini seduces her stepfather Martin and soon convinces him to join her in a sadistic scheme to have Diane declared insane. But their conspiracy soon escalates to murder and when John Garson, a young detective starts investigating, Martin and Mini begin to turn on each other.
Australian teenager Heidi is left with little choice but to leave home after she's caught red-handed with her mother's boyfriend. With few options, Heidi ends up in Jindabyne, a tourist community. Upon meeting Joe at a bar, she pursues a relationship with him and tries to find something resembling a normal home life. Heidi makes small strides by getting a job and finding a place to stay, but her relationship with Joe must overcome more than its share of hurdles.
When Max, a former MMA world champion about to retire, discovers he has an 8-year-old autistic son, his life is turned upside down. Now, as he trains for one last opportunity to regain his world champion title, Max must deal with his new family and his father, from whom he has long been estranged.
15-year-old Dawn runs away from what she feels is an intolerable home life. In the big city, she ends up turning to prostitution when she is unable to get a job due to her age. She meets Alexander, a young male hustler who takes her in, but when she starts working for a pimp, Alexander becomes a target.
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Lonely, misused, ashamed-- A desperate runaway reached by the Love of God.
Talia runs away from home taking her beloved dog with her. When her dog is stolen Talia enlists the help of a gang of boys to help her find her pet.
In a series of three vignettes, three women in turn struggle to free themselves from the men who restrict their personal freedom.
Ten-year-old Jack has to take care of his little brother, six-year-old Manuel, every day from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed. When Manuel suffers an accident, their lives change forever.