Inspired by the true stories of Vietnamese refugees who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, and those who were forced to stay behind, Journey from the Fall follows one family's struggle for freedom.
April 30, 1975 marked the end of Vietnam's two-decades-old civil war and the start of an exodus of millions of refugees who became known internationally as the boat people. But because of his allegiance to the toppled South Vietnamese government, Long Nguyen (as Long Nguyen) decides to remain in Vietnam. Captured and imprisoned in a Communist re-education camp, he urges his family to make the escape by boat without him. His wife Mai (Diem Lien), son Lai (Nguyen Thai Nguyen) and mother Ba Noi (Kieu Chinh) join the ranks of the boat people and embark on an arduous ocean voyage in the hope of reaching the U.S. and freedom. Back in Vietnam, Long suffers years of solitary confinement and hard labor, and finally despairs that his family has perished. But news of their successful resettlement in America inspires him to make one last desperate attempt to join them.