Devil's Island is a bitter sweet tale of Iceland in the fifties. Life is rough in Reykjavik's post-war slum of Camp Thule, where the abandoned US military barracks have been turned into makeshift homes. Struggling wives and their hard-working husbands try to make ends meet. The younger generation dreams of dollars, Rock'n'Roll and the American way of life. To celebrate or to drown their misery - they're never short of a good reason to booze. Devil's Island vividly depicts the everyday life of a wacky family, their neighbours and friends and shows how some of their dreams come true and others don't.

When we meet Eileen, we see her sabotaging her big sister's wedding. We find out that she blames her older sister, Claire for a car accident that has left her deaf and mute.

Two young children living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother disappears

Three estranged sisters deal with the death of their father.

A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.

A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.

Anne reads her younger sister, Marie-Catherine, the story of Bluebeard. In 17th-century France, another set of sisters — also named Anne and Marie-Catherine — are left impoverished by their father's death. Marie-Catherine dreams of marrying into money, and soon falls for wealthy divorcé Bluebeard. Grateful for the chance at a life of comfort, Marie-Catherine marries Bluebeard — in spite of rumors that he has made a hobby of murdering his wives.

An ambitious female attorney wallows in excess and meaningless sex with both male and female partners, while dealing with her personal life problems including helping her kleptomaniac sister.

A wealthy, self-absorbed Rome socialite is racked by guilt over the death of her young son. As a way of dealing with her grief and finding meaning in her life, she decides to devote her time and money to the city’s poor and sick. Her newfound, single-minded activism leads to conflicts with her husband and questions about her sanity.

Stuck in a mining town near Vladivostok in 1947 amongst Soviet exiles and Japanese POWs (Japanese prisoners remained in Siberia for years after the war had ended), the kids have to come up with something to keep them busy. Two friends, Valerka and Galia, play some peculiar, very dangerous games of their own amid the man-made wasteland of Suchan.

At the height of the Great Depression, Tommy's mother has been out of work for months when Eddie's father loses his job. Eager not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomores decide to hop the freight trains and look for work.

Fifteen-year-old Sammy has recently become aware of desires she awakens in men but one man to whom she is herself attracted is her older brother Jacob. With an institutionalized father and a mother neither sibling has seen for years, Jacob provides for the household through his trade in meat declared unfit for human consumption. This situation has sufficed for years but the dedication with which Jacob watches over his little sister leaves her no room to mature as a woman...