L’étranger

Through a serious train accident, we finally recognize that newcomers to our land are not part of the problem-they are part of the solution.

Abandoned by her husband, heartbroken Sonya survives a train derailment and wakes up in hospital. She discovers she is pregnant with nowhere to go, and seeks company from fellow Indonesian survivor, Murni, also pregnant. Heping, a funeral parlor owner, visits the hospital and decides to hire Sonya and Murni as mortuary cosmetologists. They are placed in employee housing, and their undocumented neighbor, Bakti, a day worker who plays a critical role in the turn of events, shies away from them. Sonya is advised by Heping to seek psychiatric help. She realizes through her treatments that she misses her estranged mother, Paramitha, but can’t bring herself to reconnect. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hits Taiwan. Afraid of being deported, Bakti begs Heping to send him away. Sonya eavesdrops on their conversation only to realize that Bakti is the cause of the train derailment; moreover, Paramitha was on the train that day with Sonya and died! Eventually, Bakti finds justice for himself, Murni reveals the father of her children, and Heping confesses the true reason why he wants to help Sonya. In the end, Sonya gives birth to a baby girl and returns to Indonesia to bury her beloved mother.