A day in the life of an ordinary family is complicated by secret thoughts and feelings as everyone occupies themselves with the task of watching the others.

Stinging from his recently cut-off engagement, a young man retreats to a small town in the mountains of Virginia to work as city editor of the local newspaper. Alternately entranced and disgusted with his hermit-like nocturnal life, he finds peace and pleasure listening to the St. Anthony Chorale.

An ordinary man gets an inch and a half of mention in the newspaper after stumbling into a low stakes rescue — and the small bit of fame sends him spiraling down a dark, egotistical path.

In this strange tale, the frustrated wife of an invalid finds herself both attracted to and tormented by a live-in handyman with a criminal past, a former flame, and a wealthy, mysterious visitor.

Walking around town, a man acts as a good samaritan, offering money and assistance to anyone he passes by. He seems to be genuinely kind-hearted until his conversation with his wife upon returning home suggests his compassion is only performative.

A young news reporter writes about a peculiar man in his mid-50s who is impoverished and suffers from a chronic illness — but when the man is accused of lying, the news reporter must decide whether to continue reporting the ill man's story or to accept that his claims are false.

When a woman finds her purse stolen, she retraces the steps of her eventful day only to realize that the encounters, and her life as a whole, are empty and purposeless.

In an unlikely encounter, a homeless teenage boy recounts harsh events of his life to a writer. He nonchalantly tells of an employer whose assignments caused him to have permanent physical and mental damage.

A female caretaker visits a man confined to his house every week to bring him food and tell him stories, but when one of her tales is interrupted, he begins to worry about the future of their arrangement.

In a small town, a resident watches as the people and place change. He recounts eight seemingly disparate stories, but the town connects them all.