Μια ομάδα ανθρώπων βρίσκονται παγιδευμένοι στο δάσος της δυτικής Βιρτζίνια, παλεύοντας για τις ζωές τους ενάντια σε μια ομάδα δολοφονικών και απαίσια παραμορφωμένων εγγενών κανιβάλων...

Μετά την αιματοβαμμένη εισβολή στην φαβέλα Μπανγκού του Ρίο, ο αστυνόμος Ρομπέρτο Νασιμέντο κι ο υπαρχηγός Αντρές Ματίας κατηγορούνται από μέλος του οργανισμού ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων. Ο Ματίας μεταφέρεται στη διεφθαρμένη στρατιωτική αστυνομία, ενώ ο Νασιμέντο απαλλάσσεται από τις υπηρεσίες του. Όμως, ο Νασιμέντο έχει γίνει λαοφιλής και τον καλούν στην μυστική υπηρεσία του υπουργείου ασφαλείας.

Αφήνοντας την έγκυο γυναίκα του στο σπίτι, ένας σωφρονιστικός υπάλληλος παρουσιάζεται στη νέα του δουλειά, στη Ζαμόρα, μία ημέρα νωρίτερα. Όταν στη φυλακή ξεσπά βίαιη εξέγερση, ένα ατύχημα θα τον παγιδεύσει στο κελί 211. Εγκαταλελειμμένος από τους συναδέλφους του, πρέπει να πείσει τους εκτός ελέγχου κατάδικους ότι είναι ένας από αυτούς.

1831. Ο Ιρλανδός Τσαρλς Αντέιρ ταξιδεύει για την Αυστραλία με σκοπό να εκμεταλλευτεί τον διορισμό ως κυβερνήτη ενός εξαδέλφου του και να ξεκινήσει μια νέα ζωή. Με το που πατάει το πόδι του εκεί, γνωρίζει τον πανίσχυρο ιδιοκτήτη γης Σαμ Φλάνσκι. Ο Φλάνσκι τον καλεί σπίτι του για να μιλήσουν για δουλειές κι εκεί γνωρίζει τη σύζυγο του, την Ενριέτα, που είναι αλκοολική και στα πρόθυρα της τρέλας.

Duke Jarrett is sent to jail at the John Dillinger prison. However, the prison looks more like a zoo, more or less ruled by the prisoners themselves.

Maria marries a young soldier in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. She must rely on her beauty and ambition to navigate the difficult post-war years alone.

Magdalena and Michael have loved each other since they were children. But when the Nazis come to power, Michael rebels against the regime and is sentenced to fifteen years in a concentration camp. Magdalena, meanwhile, goes underground with the help of a friend and later immigrates to the Soviet Union. Michael, who has joined the Red Army, discovers on the way to Moscow that Magdalena is staying there. But when his plane lands, she is already on her way back to Germany. Michael hopes that one day, he and Magdalena will be reunited.

Ramon is a guy who lives in a neighborhood, in the " fifth courtyard " in urban poverty. Nevertheless, aspires to the love of the daughter of his employer, a woman of another social class.

Sarajevo, rush hour. Emir (15), accompanied by a social worker, is on his way to meet his father Safet for a weekend picnic at Igman, a semi-open penitentiary. Due to the heavy traffic they are late...

A family has a hard time tying to stay together, because murder seems to be in their blood, and a their favorite type of gathering is a massacre.

Upon release from the penitentiary, Phillip Whitney tells his friend, Bennie, that he is going straight, and visits his lawyer brother John. Phillip looks up to John and while incarcerated maintained contact with him through a continental mailing agency. As John has no idea he was in prison, Phillip tells him that he has just returned from Japan.

A down on his luck young man stumbles into a gang of robbers who all get landed in prison. Will he be reformed, or is he ensnared into a life of crime?

A look beyond the shock and inhumanity of prison rape to the intricate social hierarchy that keeps it alive. A filmmaker goes deep inside Alabama's infamous Limestone penitentiary to uncover the long-term causes and consequences of prison rape. With a startling lack of inhibition, five inmates reveal the workings of an elaborate inner society.

A story depicting the life of executed murderer and gang leader, Marciál "Baby" Ama. Ama, who became a gang leader with his prison mob while serving a sentence for lesser charges, was executed for murder at the age of 16 via electric chair on 4 October 1961.

The soulless atmosphere of a women's penitentiary destroys the prisoners' personality, kills all femininity in them. The film looks at the rationality of the long prison terms for women with children.

Imagine a prison with some ten thousand prisoners, many of them dangerous and, to control them, only a few unarmed employees. Small in number, these employees work in shifts. They are almost prisoners themselves, in a routine of tension, but also of humor and emotion. This prison was all too real. While it was in existence, the Carandiru was the largest prison in Latin America, administered by a reduced number of employees. The documentary shows, from the point of view of these few employees, holding the keys, how the prison operated: the delicate balance in the relationship with the prisoners, affinity among employees, moments of tension and, even, of happiness. These are stories told by former employees, among them, Dr. Dráuzio Varella, author of the book Estação Carandiru. These are the secrets of a place that no longer exists.