A mosaic of intimate portraits of Saigon’s queer inhabitants, Mother Saigon is far from a documentary in a conventional sense, using the language of narrative film to explore expansive possibilities beyond reality. The trans women and gay couples in the film are not merely subjects but active participants who shape its meandering narratives, reflecting on love, loss, and their relationship with the city that holds them. The film is a love letter – a bittersweet ode to a mother figure both comforting and disturbing, to a city simultaneously liberating and oppressive, where blood ties and found families coexist with all their inherent contradictions.