约翰（艾伦·阿金 Alan Arkin 饰）是一名聋哑人，在小镇上的一间礼品店里工作，听觉和语言的缺失让他拥有更加敏锐的洞察力，也更加容易看透人和事的本质。约翰住在租来的房间里，这个房间原来的主人是一个名叫米克（桑德拉·洛克 Sondra Locke 饰）的女孩。 　　米克和家人的关系很糟糕，在孤独中她对约翰产生了兴趣，可是，对于米克来说，约翰只是她派遣寂寞的工具而已，所以当她找到了新男友后，便将约翰置之度外。约翰遇见了一个内心有创伤的医生，一个无家可归的流浪汉，在约翰的陪伴和帮助下，他们都找到了人生新的方向，可是，没有一个人知道，在约翰的内心里，孤独和绝望的深渊正在将他缓慢吞噬。

Two friends vie for the attention of a stranger who passes out at their doorstep.

Two friends vie for the attention of a stranger who passes out at their doorstep.

A young woman has difficulty understanding why her husband walks out on her. Alone for the first time, she finds life difficult to cope with and for a time lives with the hope that her husband will come back to her.

Novalee Nation is a 17-year-old Tennessee transient who has to grow up in a hurry when she's left pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend on a roadside, and takes refuge in the friendly aisles of Wal-Mart. Eventually, some eccentric but kindly strangers 'adopt' Novalee and her infant daughter, helping them buck the odds and build a new life.

A wealthy businessman shows his young adult kids how tough life can be.

A wealthy businessman shows his young adult kids how tough life can be.

An interview with composer Erik Ekstrand about Hanging Heart (1989)

Mateson gets divorced from Atisak after she finds out he has a mistress. When trying to make a living supporting herself and her daughter Pheung, she gets involved with a drug gang, and she and her daughter gets raped by the gang. She then goes on an atrocious killing spree seeking revenge leading her into madness.