We meet Thanh Tran, an incarcerated filmmaker inside San Quentin State Prison as he is preparing for release. As his incarceration comes to an end, he is left to enter the free world and reconnect with his family after ten years in prison. We see his excitement and joy but also his trepidation. He doesn’t know what he will find or how he will be received after all of these years incarcerated. At the Buddhist temple where he was raised, Thanh makes a formal apology to his two elderly foster moms who live and work there as Buddhist nuns. With their forgiveness, he gains the confidence to set out on a journey to reunite the rest of his family.

Thanh and his six siblings were placed into foster care in early childhood after CPS intervention. Their birth mother, Hue Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant, struggled with addiction and houselessness for their entire lives. People see Hue as a nuisance on the side of the road, but to Thanh and his family, she is Ma – the Vietnamese term for mom. Her makeshift homes on various streets of Little Saigon has especially troubled Thanh’s sister Thu, who has made a tradition out of visiting her mother on her birthday which is on Christmas. When Thanh comes home and learns about this tradition, he sees it as an opportunity to bring everyone back together.