In 1990s Leningrad, a Russian man prepares to emigrate, but things don't quite go as planned—twists of fate, complex friendships, and the omnipresent KGB stand in his way.

A famous novelist emotionally manipulates a young artist in order to write about him and inadvertently causes the artist to commit suicide.

A middle-school girl is pulled out of math class to identify a battered corpse that the police believe to be her often absent and unavailable mother.

A class of high schoolers attempt to perform a psychological experiment on their teacher who has just lost his wife and daughter in a terrible accident. However, the leader of the experiment seems to be performing a study all his own.

When an Allied plane goes down during World War II, the pilot’s friend goes to tell his mother that her son could not have survived - but no matter what he says, she refuses to give up hope that God will bring her boy home.

Burdened by the memories of her time in Nazi-occupied Poland, a woman destroys her antique shop in New York and moves to Florida, but is still haunted by a persistent researcher and visions of her deceased daughter.

After her husband leaves her, a middle-aged woman reminisces about their years of marriage. Encouraged by her therapist, who thinks that her husband is going through a temporary midlife crisis, the woman waits for her husband and is convinced that he will come back.

A man named J.D. receives news that his wife and children have passed away in a Florida hurricane. In confusion, J.D. denies the story.

Freshly graduated from high school, a young couple must decide how to handle an unwanted pregnancy and their crippling sense of shame.

A young American teacher grows close to a troubled student who believes she can echolocate like bats.