The film opens as we see a baby being born in west Philadelphia. This is Elijah Price, later in the movie played by Samuel L Jackson. Elijah is so brittle that he is born with broken arms and legs. As he grows older, he is taunted at school and called Mr. Glass by his classmates since he is so fragile. As an adult, he runs a successful high priced comic book art gallery specializing in original drawings of super heroes.

Bruce Willis plays David Dunne. A security guard at the local college stadium. His marriage is crumbling and in fact, his wife, Robin Wright-Penn, sleeps downstairs in their son’s room, and Bruce sleeps upstairs with his son.