The history of the world unfolds in railway carriages in repeating refrain. Every few years, hauntingly similar scenes occur at railway stations worldwide: carriages filled with men going off to war, only to return as casualties. This cycle is followed by an exodus of civilians, evacuees mingling with prisoners of war returning from camps, and soldiers of victorious armies leading the defeated, until ordinary passengers once again appear at the stations. Trains opens with a quote from Franz Kafka: “There is plenty of hope. An infinite amount of hope. But not for us.” These words hang like a dark cloud over this found-footage documentary, which creates a collective portrait of people in 20th century Europe, capturing their hopes, desires, dramas, and tragedies.