Metro Manila

Oscar Ramirez, a rice farmer, moves his family from Banaue to Metro Manila seeking a better life after his crops fail. They arrive in the city and start looking for work and shelter. The relocation sets the stage for the hardships they will face in the urban poor districts.

Oscar is offered a low-cost room, but it proves a scam. The next day, police evict the family for squatting, leaving them homeless. They quickly realize the city's system is stacked against newcomers.

With nowhere else to go, the Ramirez family moves into a vacant shanty in the slums of Tondo. The area is rife with crime, poverty, and constant uncertainty. Oscar searches for any line of work to keep his family fed.

Oscar lands a job as a security officer for Manila Armored Couriers after his military background is noticed. He begins training and handles his first assignments with his new partner. The job marks a fragile foothold in the city for the family.

On Oscar's first day, he and his partner Ong share stories about their pasts. Ong reveals the death of his previous partner in a failed robbery, while Oscar recalls Alfred Santos and the silk factory tragedy. The conversations hint at the dangers surrounding their line of work.

Concerned for Oscar's safety in the slums, Ong offers a spare apartment unit in Makati for the family. The offer signals a possible move toward a more stable life, raising questions about deception and trust. The arrangement foreshadows the later conflicts tied to location and security.

Mai secures a job as a hostess at a nightclub in Makati after a routine physical checkup reveals she is pregnant. The pregnancy adds pressure on their already precarious situation and ties Mai to the city's nightlife. The couple faces choices about the future of their child and their new life.

When Mai struggles to meet drink quotas, her boss suggests exploiting her nine-year-old child Angel for 'special clients.' The plan exposes child exploitation and tests the family’s resolve. Oscar and Mai must weigh the danger against their need to survive.

During a routine handout delivery to a rapper who is also a drug dealer, Oscar and Ong discuss corruption and the underworld they are entangled with. The conversation reveals how far they are willing to go and sets the stage for moral compromise. The job intensifies the sense of looming danger.

On that same route, a black Honda Civic seems to shadow them and a group of men heads toward Ong. Oscar follows the gang on foot to rescue Ong, only to discover that they are in cahoots with Ong. The alliance complicates trust and signals a planned heist involving the security box.

Ong explains that he kept a security box and intends to stage a robbery to be debriefed at the processing center. He uses the threat of framing Oscar to force him into the plan, manipulating his fear and loyalty. The plan marks a turning point toward betrayal and danger.

The plan backfires when the man who escaped earlier kills Ong. Oscar is tasked with delivering Ong's personal effects and severance pay to his widow Dora. The burden of the crime now weighs on him as he tries to navigate the fallout.

Back home, Oscar learns that the security box is hidden under the floor and that Mai is aware of its existence. The couple faces a moral dilemma about what to do with the box and the power it represents. The discovery reframes their immediate future in the city.

One night, Oscar sneaks into the processing center to take an imprint of the key and to steal another. He is quickly caught on security cameras and is fatally shot. The moment twists the narrative as the pursuit of the box escalates to deadly consequences.

The locket Oscar stole earlier is opened by Mai, revealing a clay imprint of the security-box key. After duplicating the key, she leaves the city with her children by bus, carrying money and heading toward an uncertain future. The events are framed as Oscar's final narration of the story.