In Milan, Elena is a widow and has to raise alone her two children, Martina and Sandro. When she learns that her son is addicted, she tries to get him out of the hell of drugs.
After their mother suffers a fatal overdose, two sisters fear being separated by the foster system and decide to hide her body. But when their lie risks being exposed, they must decide how far they’re willing to go to keep their secret.
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.