Determined to see “the river,” two young children living in Los Angeles leave home to embark on a magical urban odyssey.

A young man from Hong Kong comes to America to look for his long-lost sister, without learning her fatal accident. In Utah, instead of finding her, he finds a special landscape where it echoes her soul.

For Billie and Nico, life with their father is a roller-coaster ride of playfulness and unease. When he is in the grip of alcohol, tears flow and their apparently idyllic family life collapses. Their mostly absent and irresponsible mother is not much help either. But their friendship with Malik, a boy of Billie’s age, frees them from their shackles. Together they embark on a journey full of intense moments of freedom. The colourful, emotional world of the three young people is depicted in kaleidoscopic black and white imagery, which opens space for their own notions of childhood. Alexandre Rockwell's tale portrays a profound sense of solidarity and deep love: for cinema and Billie Holiday, and also for risk and adventure.

As the Royal Alamo Cinema closes its doors for good, jaded staff, eccentric patrons, and an unhinged manager stumble through one last night at the movies—grappling with busted dreams, bad popcorn, and hard goodbyes.