The Road to Mandalay 2021

In the sweltering heat of the Burmese countryside, a plucky young girl named Lien Ching (Wu Ke-xi) hatches a daring plan to escape the constraints of her life and forge a new path in the bustling metropolis of Bangkok, Thailand. With stars in her eyes and a fire in her belly, she stows away on a truck bound for the city, driven by an insatiable desire to make a name for herself and maybe even catch a glimpse of the Taiwanese dream. It’s there that she crosses paths with A-kuo (Kai Ko), a charming young man from her own hometown of Lashio who harbors a secret crush on the determined Lien Ching.

As Lien Ching navigates the treacherous landscape of Bangkok, she finds herself struggling to make ends meet without proper identification. Her attempts at finding legitimate work are thwarted at every turn, and eventually, she’s caught by the Thai authorities for being an illegal immigrant. With a hefty fine hanging over her head, she’s forced to rely on A-kuo’s goodwill, but even his support can’t stem the tide of desperation that washes over her as she becomes increasingly desperate to obtain legal papers - no matter the cost.

In a series of misadventures that leave her penniless and heartbroken, Lien Ching is driven to make a Faustian bargain with a shady drug dealer who offers her a solution in exchange for a hefty sum. It’s a decision that will ultimately lead her down a dangerous path of exploitation, as she’s forced to sell her body to get by. The weight of this betrayal proves too much for A-kuo to bear, and his anger boils over into a tragic act of violence that will leave one of them dead and the other forever changed.