Four parallel stories of people just getting by, unfolding over seven days in Beijing. For most of the story, the main characters mis-connect with others, except through their pagers.
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
In a neighborhood bar, a mysterious man tells a group of friends the story of an aspiring soccer player who, 50 years ago, tried out for an English club but who had the peculiar characteristic that he could only play soccer in flip-flops.
Maria earns her living fishing in a northern Peruvian village, working alongside her husband. But when her husband is called away to work on larger industrial fishing boat, Maria, who is pregnant, finds ways to act out her anger.
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.