After 18 years of marriage, a middle-aged couple has to face the prospect of having their first child.
Covering only the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis, vignettes include: Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden until their indulgence in the forbidden fruit sees them driven out; Cain murdering his brother Abel; Noah building an ark to preserve the animals of the world from the coming flood; and Abraham making a covenant with God.
An all-enveloping darkness. Suddenly, a child's voice, frightened, questioning, pierces the darkness... The first flickering rays of light begin to sculpt mysterious shapes out of the darkness... Among them, a very old man. He reassures the child, exhorting him to see the wonders of the earth. And it is with this child's eyes that we will witness the creation of the world.
Two schizophrenics meet during therapy and fall in love. Unfortunately they are on a road to nowhere...
When Elisa confronts Sean about finally building towards the life they both dreamed of, it occurs to Sean that there's no time like the present to make a change. The question is, did he wait too long?
In 17th-century Tuscany, a church play is performed for the benefit of young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.
After long absence, a man returns to his hometown only to find his best friend has become an alcoholic.
Ramona, not quite 18, leaves Vienna for a German provincial town to be reunited with Toni, the love of her life and her baby′s father. The girl puts all her faith in Toni′s promise, made on a whim, to marry her. Straight after her arrival, she begins to realize that he′s no longer interested in her. All the same, Ramona tries to make her dream of a family come true.
Two couples face the possibility that their infant sons, both born on the same day, were inadvertently switched at the hospital, and a chain of revelations and decisions threatens both families.
A young teenage single mother (Maggi) struggling to raise her baby daughter (Lucy) finds the weight of responsibility bearing down on her shoulders. Maggy was forced to grow up before her time. Thankfully for Maggi, her mother is always willing to help though Maggy still lives at home with her mother, it's obvious that she longs to gain some independendence. Meeting Gordon at a local club, who is a few years older, makes a living and has his own apartment. One night, after a heated argument with her mother, Maggi makes the decision to move in with Gordon. Though the pair subsequently make a sincere attempt to be good parents.and do what's best for Lucy, they soon find that taking on the responsibilities of adulthood aren't so easy when you've barely moved past childhood yourself.
The arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the Cairn family; particularly for 9-year-old Joshua, an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn.
A pregnant prison inmate shares her problems with the patients in a maternity ward.
Novalee Nation is a 17-year-old Tennessee transient who has to grow up in a hurry when she's left pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend on a roadside, and takes refuge in the friendly aisles of Wal-Mart. Eventually, some eccentric but kindly strangers 'adopt' Novalee and her infant daughter, helping them buck the odds and build a new life.
With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
A young boy trying to deal with his mother's heroin addiction befriends a waitress who helps him cope with the tough situation.
A couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.
A weekend cruise on a luxurious party yacht goes horribly wrong for a group of old high-school friends when they get stuck in the water many miles from shore and a happy reunion turns into a fight for survival.
J.C. Wiatt is a talented and ambitious New York City career woman who is married to her job and working towards partner at her firm. She has a live-in relationship with Steven, a successful investment broker who, along with J.C., agreed children aren't part of the plan. J.C.'s life takes an unexpected turn when a distant relative dies and the will appoints her the caretaker of their baby girl, Elizabeth. The baby's sudden arrival causes Steven to leave, breaking off their relationship. Juggling power lunches and powdered formula, she is soon forced off the fast track by a conniving colleague and a bigoted boss. But she won't stay down for long. She'll prove to the world that a woman can have it all and on her own terms too!
In 1965, a young woman with dreams of becoming a writer has a son at the age of 15 and struggles to make things work with the drug-addicted father.