A young man returns home on the threshold of the Lunar New Year and finds himself a stranger within his own family. The cold silence surrounding the disappearance of his younger sister forces him on a quest for answers. Through his search, we are given a glimpse of the family’s fragmented past. From their perilous escape from Vietnam, to their separation, to their struggle with marred relationships, the family continues to endure the tragedies of false expectations.

First Morning

This story is divided in three chapters.  1) "The Visitor": The drifter writer Tran Thanh Loc arrives in an old house and is lodged by the gorgeous Hoa. Along the days, he falls in love for her and discloses the truth about the hostess. 2) "Only Child": Loc is sick, totally disconnected of the world, but his nurse Linh heals him. He writes the best-seller The Visitor about his relationship with Hoa and becomes a successful writer. He proposes and marries Linh, but when he decides to have a baby, Linh is haunted by her hidden obscure past. 3) "The Diviner": Linh's parents send the fraudulent diviner Lan to use her pretentious knowledge of Feng Shui to help Loc, and she sees ghost in the house. Her son and aspirant writer Bao does not believe on his mother until he finds a surprising secret about Loc.

Spirits

Since 1975 millions of Vietnamese boat people have fled for freedom. By 1993 more than half who survived the exodus resided in California. The film portrays the coming of age story of abandoned kids growing up in the new Vietnamese enclave of Orange County, California in the early 1990s, based on true events.