A neurotic, twice-divorced sci-fi writer moves back in with his mother to solve his personal problems.

A med school burnout returns to his small home town, but when he decides against telling his mother that he dropped out, complications ensue.

Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.

Simon Henderson is at boarding school in Canada while his father works in Hong Kong, and his mother lives in England. When his parents visit him in the holidays, Simon discovers that his mother has schizophrenia.

For years, Axel has cut off ties with his family, devastated by a tragedy for which he was made to bear responsibility. When the freighter on which he was cook stopped in his hometown, he decided to visit his mother, Françoise. It's a shock: she no longer recognizes him. Having Alzheimer's disease, Françoise now forgets whole sections of her life. Axel is the first of the siblings to disappear from his memory. Why him? What is he hiding behind this oversight? And while Ivan and Lucie have agreed to have her admitted in the center, Axel opposes it frontally and delays her departure to take care of her, despite the tensions. Between the mother and the son opens the face-to-face so long feared and yet necessary.

In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative, so graft and corruption are rife. When Leo Handler gets out of prison, he finds his aunt married to Frank Olchin, one of the big contractors; he's battling with a minority-owned firm for contracts.

A shy and quiet World War II evacuee is housed by a disgruntled old man, and they soon develop a close bond.

Andrea visits her incarcerated son for the first time. Initially eyed with suspicion by other women in line, she gradually gains their trust — and emerges as a powerful advocate for justice reform.

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

Yong-ju, Gi-woong and Gi-taek used to be best friends in middle school, but in high school, Gi-woong becomes a member of the gang that bullies Gi-taek. As Yong-ju tries to fix this broken relationship, he realizes his special feeling toward Gi-woong.

During an annual celebration in which English peasants and aristocrats mingle, the Duke of Loame is thrown from his horse and saved by Ivis Benson, the daughter of a tenant farmer. Both injured, they fall in love, to the dismay of his mother and Lady Eileen, his intended bride.