Cullen Bohannon, a former soldier and slaveholder, follows the track of a band of Union soldiers, the killers of his wife. This brings him to the middle of one of the biggest projects in US history, the building of the transcontinental railroad. After the war years in the 1860s, this undertaking connected the prospering east with the still wild west.

On a train, Keith and Mick chat about the blues and the Rolling Stones are born. Douglas and Joe chat in front of a New Jersey music store, and a band is born: as Douglas's sister tells us, it's one of many that don't make it. We follow Douglas from high school (1963-64), when he sees himself as a loser, into the band, playing drums and singing backup - then as the front man. There are tensions, a breakup, an audition in front of a major player, and decisions. Douglas pursues Grace, a country-club gal with hip sensibilities who believes in him. There's also his father, working class, wanting Douglas to apply himself as he watches his own life fill with regrets.

While in the hospital for a tomography of the brain of his autistic daughter Sarah, Ben becomes upset when there is a power failure. He decides to leave the hospital with Sarah, while the nurse Emily tries to convince him to leave Sarah for further treatment. They get the elevator with three other passengers, and suddenly the elevator stops; when the door opens, people has vanished from the hospital, the environment is creepy and they are chased by devilish monsters. They find that they are trapped in the hospital, and the creatures seem to be hunting Sarah.