Britain in the early 1960s, as seen through the eyes of a handful of "illegals" from Pakistan. Amir arrives in the U.K. in a crate of cabbages, settles into an overcrowded house with 17 other men in similar circumstances, and learns the ropes of earning money while laying low. When a lively Irish woman is brought home by the house leader, the men's lives brighten considerably. But ever so subtly the delicate balance that maintains their invisibility is undone.