In order to help pay for his US Citizenship, An undocumented Chinese immigrant turns his best friend’s failing Chauffeur Service into a Prostitution ring with the help of the friend’s wife. 

SYNOPSIS:

In 2013, Darren Li arrives in San Gabriel Valley from China with his son, Charlie, who is studying as a Foreign Exchange student. Initially meant to drop off Charlie with the Xu family, Darren becomes enamored with America and decides to pursue a life there. However, obtaining US citizenship is near impossible without family ties or marriage. Desperate to afford the lawyer's fee for political asylum, Darren takes menial jobs and stays at a Home Hotel (an illegal boarding house for immigrants), where he crosses paths with Cola, a struggling prostitute, and her pimp.

Meanwhile, Darren’s best friend Hongda Xu and his wife Lili are legal immigrants who own and operate Shanghai Express, a black car chauffeur service. As financial troubles mount, due to the rising popularity of apps like Uber, their relationship strains under the pressure of keeping the business alive. Lili seeks to fill her void and earn money by engaging in a secret affair with a wealthy client, while Hongda secretly borrows money from a loan shark.

Darren discovers Lili's secret rendezvous with the rich client and seizes an opportunity to make more money for not only his citizenship, but for Shanghai Express as a whole. He inadvertently steals Cola away from her pimp and convinces her to take Lili's place with the rich client, hoping to increase their earnings. With Darren's strategic input, they hope to turn Shanghai Express into a lucrative sex work enterprise, blurring the lines between the lawful and the illicit. Unaware of Cola's pimp's ties to the ruthless Wah Ching gang, Hongda’s debtors, the trio faces escalating risks as they venture deeper down the rabbit hole.