Born Equal

Mark, a successful city banker, passes a homeless beggar in an underground station without offering help. The moment lingers with him as guilt grows over his initial indifference. This early act sows the seeds for his later moral experiments.

Later the same homeless man returns, and Mark impulsively gives him £100. The small gesture marks a turning point, triggering a shift in his outlook toward helping others. It foreshadows his decision to devote himself to charitable work.

Motivated by guilt and curiosity, Mark resolves to channel his wealth to aid the poor and volunteers as an outreach worker. He begins to feel a new, exhilarating sense of purpose, but the change unsettles his sense of identity. The commitment also pulls him away from his comfortable life and marriage.

The generosity becomes a retreat from his privileged life and strains his marriage with Laura. He feels trapped by the pressures and scrutiny that come with wealth, and Laura senses his neglect. The rift between them widens as his work consumes more of his days.

Robert is released from prison and moves into a hostel in Swiss Cottage. He becomes entangled with Michelle, a pregnant woman shielding her daughter from an abusive husband. The two navigate precarious loyalties inside the hostel's fraught environment.

Robert and Michelle form a wary but compelling connection as their lives intersect in the hostel. He continues his search for his mother, an unresolved thread that motivates his actions. The bond raises questions about trust and boundaries.

A Nigerian immigrant family threads through the hostel's daily grind. Yemi works in a restaurant while his wife Itshe keeps the house, and their daughter adds urgency to their ambitions. They strive to raise £5,000 to bring Yemi's father from Nigeria before political gangs close in on him.

Mark begins collaborating with Sally, the social worker who placed Michelle in the hostel, and helps secure a room for Zoe, a 17-year-old runaway. He grows protective of Zoe, forming a bond that is at once supportive and complicated. This work further blurs the line between his private life and the hostel's tangled web.

One night Zoe makes a bold advance and kisses Mark, who rejects her and returns to Laura. Laura's distress over his absences reveals suspicions of an affair and strains their marriage. The episode intensifies the clash between desire for connection and fidelity.

Robert learns that his mother has died while he was behind bars, a revelation that drives him to pull away from Michelle. The loss compounds the strain of their tenuous relationship and the hostel's fragile balance. Grief becomes another factor shaping the characters' choices.

During a tense dinner in a restaurant, Mark tries to explain the distance growing between him and Laura and to apologize for his neglect. The scene crystallizes the breakdown of trust and the costs of his quest for meaning. It foreshadows the tragedy to come.

After the dinner, while driving home, Mark narrowly avoids hitting Robert, who then follows them. In a moment of brutal resolve, Robert stabs Mark to death at the entrance to his home. The attack exposes the violence that can erupt when boundaries blur between strangers and acquaintances.

The film closes by weaving together themes of guilt, class, and fragile human connections. Laura confronts the consequences of a life built on appearance and wealth, while the other characters' lives reveal the dangers and complexities of crossing personal boundaries. The ending leaves a stark meditation on what it means to be truly compassionate in a fearful world.