Rom

Very good film in which the characters are struggling to survive in a bleak, poverty-stricken part of Ho Chi Minh City that is controlled by a ruthless gangster. The main character, Nòm, is an orphan with dreams of reuniting with the parents who abandoned him after they were evicted from their home.

He earns money by running daily lottery bets to and from bookies and persists despite endemic violence, treachery, and literal hunger. He is wiley and relatively street savvy, having had to fend for himself for the last 6 years.

The movie itself seems to expose the seamy side of a capitalist society that provides little or no support to its poorest members, especially in a country founded on Communist principles.