Only weeks into its European run, the Burmese military junta freed Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (depicted in the film) after several years under strict house arrest.

[citation needed] Suu Kyi was re-arrested a few years later, but Beyond Rangoon had already helped raise world attention on a previously "invisible" tragedy: the massacres of 1988 and the cruelty of her country's military rulers.

One night, unable to sleep because of nightmares, Laura leaves her hotel in Rangoon and gets caught up in an anti-government protest.

While staying behind waiting for her new passport, she meets U Aung Ko, who acts as an unofficial tour guide and drives an ancient Chevy.

Laura learns that Ko used to be a college professor, who was banned from teaching because of his support for the anti-government activities led by his former student Min Han.

When Laura attempts to get into the US embassy, the military tries to arrest her for helping Ko, but the student demonstrators rescue them.

Richard Corliss of Time, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, and Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote negative reviews, while the critic for The New Yorker called the film a "fearless masterpiece" and Andrew Sarris declared himself "awestruck" by the film.

[citation needed] Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, praising Arquette's performance and acknowledging the political repression in Burma.

[citation needed] The film was a financial success only in France (where it opened number one and gained 442,793 visitors), though it was screened in many European countries.

[citation needed] Hans Zimmer highlights on South-East Asia tradition where he employs pipes, wood flutes, and native rhythms with vivid effects to demonstrate the character of the students' strike in 1988, Burma and their fleeing Rangoon after martial law imposed.