When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a desperate last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change. She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia. She doesn't expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: 'Kind, cruel, kind of cruel' - words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where. She doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken...

When London art student Ben Willis goes through a painful breakup, he develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late-night shift at the local supermarket. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own means of dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour-shift. Ben imagines freezing time, which allows him to see the beauty of the everyday world and the people inside it - especially Sharon, the quiet checkout girl,...