The residents of Ho Chi Minh City face rapid Westernization and widespread poverty. Retired Marine James Hager (Harvey Keitel) arrives on a search for his daughter, whom he abandoned at the end of the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, inner-city cyclo driver Hai (Don Duong) falls for troubled prostitute Lan (Zoe Bui) and schemes to raise money so he can spend time with her. Elsewhere, Kien An (Nguyen Ngoc Hiep) begins harvesting lotuses for a writer suffering from leprosy.