Andie is an outcast, hanging out either with her older boss, who owns the record store where she works, or her quirky high school classmate Duckie, who has a crush on her. When one of the rich and popular kids at school, Blane, asks Andie out, it seems too good to be true. As Andie starts falling for Blane, she begins to realize that dating someone from a different social sphere is not easy.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a young servant provokes an independent Irish farm community by her relationship with two brothers. Pregnant, she refuses to reveal the name of the father.
It's New York City in 1981, and various twentysomethings are converging on a New Year's Eve party.