Kamal, a Sri Lankan pickpocket, is under pressure from his pregnant wife, Vansantha, to go straight. But his life falls apart when he finds a photo of her in one of the wallets he has stolen. He doesn't confront her--indeed, they hardly talk--as he goes on a journey to the dark side, trying to find out if she has been unfaithful. Kamal's struggle is not played out in words, but in the visual contrast between the sunlit coastline, the green hill country and the dark shack where the couple lives, literally on the wrong side of the tracks. The film shows how limited possibilities are for rural youth who leave the farm. The neighbors who keep an eye on beautiful Vansantha raise chickens, but every one else just seems to scrape by: one man earns a few pennies selling pinwheels, which whirl as Kamal's emotions spin out of control.