The film takes place during five days in the lives of the main characters: Thuy (Pham Gia Han), a ten-year-old runaway orphan, Lan (Cat Ly), a flight attendant, and Hai (Le The Hu), a zookeeper.

Thuy works in a factory for her uncle, Minh (Nguyen Hau), who thinks she is useless and unfit for school.

Having a great desire for a life elsewhere, she runs away from home and ends up on the streets of Saigon selling postcards and roses to earn a living.

Despite an awkward beginning, the night turns into a family outing of sorts and ends with Lan and Hai realizing that they are both lost souls unsure of what they want in life.

To everyone’s dismay, Minh arrives with documents proving he is Thuy’s legal guardian and takes her back to the country to work in the factory.

Unwilling to live a life of servitude, however, Thuy escapes and takes a large amount of Minh's money.

On witnessing first-hand the life that Thuy endures, Hai offers to pay for her to live and work at the zoo where he will be her guardian.

The movie was released theatrically in Japan as The Happiest Place in the World, South Korea as The Lovely Rose, and Spain as Cinco dias en Saigon.