After her husband is arrested for looting, Lisette struggles for independence while dealing with her transgender sibling, her critical mother-in-law and assorted neighborhood eccentrics.

David, a naive graduate student, has volunteered to work as a 'buddy' for people dying of AIDS. Assigned to the intensely political Robert, a lifelong activist whose friends and family have abandoned him following his diagnosis, the two men, each with notably different world views, soon discover common bonds, as David's inner activist awakens and Robert's need for emotional release is fulfilled.

Brutally abused by his parents, teenage Thomas finds comfort in associating with a film director who is making a documentary about physical child abuse. The two fall in love, and the elder is faced with the decision of either running away with Thomas or focusing on his career and thereby letting the boy possibly be beaten to death.

A couple of people steal the daughter of a famous lawyer. Now they want money to give her back, but it's not just the money they want. They want revenge.