Story of Brazilian bank-robber Lúcio Flávio, who fascinated some people in Rio de Janeiro during the 1970s for his bold robberies and spectacular escapes, and also because he was thought to be intelligent and "politically aware". Before dying, he disclosed a network of corruption in Brazilian Police, and its involvement with the infamous "Death Squad" of the time, a group of policemen who went about killing criminals without giving them a fair trial.

Living with his parents, 17-year-old Juan hangs out with several intellectuals who would like to photograph the human soul. The girlfriend of the group's financier is Ana, and Juan is attracted to her, despite the knowledge that she spent two years at a clinic because she was "crazy." Juan sees Ana when he can and trains as a door-to-door salesman, but when the German photographer on the soul project gives him a viewfinder, it changes his life, putting him on the path to his later success as a Hollywood director.

An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.

10-year-old Pixote endures torture, degradation, and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of its members are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old trans hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys escape and they start to make their living by a life of crime which only escalates to more violence and death.

The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.