Beyond Rangoon

Andy Bowman persuades her sister Laura, a doctor, to join a trip to Burma, hoping it might pull Laura out of her grief. Laura agrees reluctantly and leaves their Rangoon hotel to start the journey. The sisters hope for distraction, though the political climate already feels tense.

Laura is deeply depressed after the murder of her husband and son. Unable to sleep due to nightmares, she leaves the Rangoon hotel and is caught up in an anti-government protest, where she is moved by Aung San Suu Kyi's bravery.

After their tour group departs, Laura learns her passport was stolen and she cannot leave Burma with them. She must remain behind while Andy continues the trip. This leaves her vulnerable and alone in a country in upheaval.

Laura meets U Aung Ko, an unofficial guide who drives an old Chevy. He takes her to a Buddhist monastery, and their car even with mechanical problems manages to reach Ko's friends and former students.

At the monastery, Laura learns Ko was a college professor banned from teaching for his anti-government activities, linked to his former student Min Han. The revelation underscores the personal risk Ko faces in a volatile regime.

Laura has a breakdown and confesses what happened to her family to Ko. The shared vulnerability deepens their bond and strengthens Laura's resolve to endure the journey.

The next morning, the 8888 Uprising erupts. Ko takes Laura to a station to board a train back to Rangoon; Laura sneaks aboard, but soldiers beat Ko, and Min Han is shot and killed during the intervention.

Laura helps Ko into the car and they flee the pursuing soldiers, but Ko is shot and wounded. They crash into the Irrawaddy River and manage to escape, clinging to life as they swim away from the wreck.

They board a bamboo raft toward Rangoon, and Laura, a doctor, tends Ko's wound. Using improvised medical care, she begins the process of removing the bullet as their fragile craft drifts through the river.

The raft stops at a village the next day so Laura can find drugs to treat Ko. She reluctantly accepts a pistol for protection, and at a local clinic she must shoot a soldier to prevent a rape.

Arriving in Rangoon amid full-scale revolt, Laura tries to reach the US embassy but is pursued by the military. Student demonstrators intervene and rescue them from arrest, offering hope amid chaos.

The group boards a truck heading for the border but abandons it near the border and runs through the jungle. They encounter a group of Karen rebels who help them continue their flight.

Laura dreams of her son Danny telling her she must let him go. Ko consoles her, saying that all things pass and that they are shadows, briefly walking the earth.

The refugees cross a river into Thailand under mortar fire and reach a refugee camp. There, Laura finds a new purpose by helping at the camp's hospital and dedicating herself to care.