In Vietnam, Phuong Ly, the young and beautiful daughter of an impoverished fruit vendor is deeply in love with her boyfriend. His wealthy mother, however, has higher aspirations for her son and engineers their break-up. Heartbroken and overwhelmed with financial burden, Phuong Ly travels to Saigon in the hope that she might find a solution to her family's financial struggle. Desperate and alone, she becomes entangled in the dark underworld of marriage agencies. Hopeful that the foreign man she has agreed to marry will offer her and her family a better life, Phuong Ly leaves her native land for the promise of America.
