Ken, a WWII GI, returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing in the paraplegic ward of a veteran's hospital and embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his fiancée and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility. Head physician, Dr. Brock cajoles the withdrawn Ken into the life of the ward, where fellow patients Norm, Leo and Angel begin to pull him out of his spiritual dilemma.

After being shot, a lawyer loses his memory and must relearn speech and mobility, but he has a loving family to support him.

Simon is an intelligent and privileged young man whose family expects him to become a Princeton graduate. Crying out for attention from his reserved and cool hearted family, Simon commits numerous petty crimes and is soon sent away to boarding school where he befriends a "Deadhead," adopts the "hippie" lifestyle and dabbles in many drugs in his search for acceptance.

Fresh out of a psychiatric hospital, Pia moves back in with her parents to get her life together. Torn between a new job, lovesickness, psychotropic drugs and social stigmatization, she emerges into a world where everything seems out of control.

A young boy trying to deal with his mother's heroin addiction befriends a waitress who helps him cope with the tough situation.

Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed child, and, after reuniting the girl with her family, becomes a local celebrity. But when a local newspaper unearths his past, Jack must cope with the anger of citizens who fear for the safety of their children.

When Rodney winds up in the Sage Treatment Facility and in the care of the twisted Nanny Lou, his drive to do better for his family and new friends lead him to more trouble, when he rebels against his ornery captor.

Fresh out of rehab, a young woman moves back in with her parents and sister, and soon becomes involved in a mystery that has left people in her town paralyzed.

When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.

When Sven provokes a fight after an evening out in Amsterdam his best friend ends up in a coma, and nothing is the same as before.

Shipped off to a Romanian orphanage to finish his sentence, a British criminal finds romance but also discovers corruption inside the facility.

An alcoholic falls in love with and gets married to a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.