In 1961, mathematician Katherine Goble works as a “computer” in the segregated West Area Computers division of Langley Research Center. Following a successful Russian satellite launch, pressure to send American astronauts into space increases. White supervisor Vivian Mitchell assigns Katherine to assist the Space Task Group of Al Harrison due to her skills in analytic geometry. She becomes the first coloured woman in the team – and in the building, which has no bathrooms for coloured people. Katherine’s struggles to win respect from her colleagues and boss.

Winfried Conradi is a divorced music teacher, an old-age hippie of sorts, with a passion for bizarre pranks involving several fake personas. Following the death of his beloved dog, he decides to reconnect with his daughter, Ines, who is pursuing a career in business consulting. She is consumed by her work and seems to have little time for her family, least of all her father. Winfried chases his career-focussed daughter around the world interfering with her life while disguised as the titular Erdmann.

Emad and Rana are a married couple who work in the theatre, currently starring in a production of Death of a Salesman. Emad is also an instructor at a local school. One night, their apartment begins to collapse and they flee the building with the other residents. Desperate to find a place to live, their fellow actor Babak secures another apartment for them, where a female tenant has just moved out. One night, Rana is home alone and begins bathing. When Emad returns, he finds she is missing and the bathroom covered with blood. Rana has been assaulted by an intruder.