Adrien, an attractive dancer whose career was shattered by a motorcycle accident, squanders his youth in idleness. His life changes when he meets Margot, who lives off scams and amorous manipulations.

Seeking a brighter future in megacity Manila, Oscar Ramirez and his family flee their impoverished life in the rice fields of the northern Philippines. But the sweltering capital’s bustling intensity quickly overwhelms them, and they fall prey to the rampant manipulations of its hardened locals. Oscar catches a lucky break when he’s offered steady work for an armored truck company and gregarious senior officer Ong takes him under his wing. Soon, though, the reality of his work’s mortality rate and the murky motives of his new partner force Oscar to confront the perils he faces in his new job and life.

An assassin hunts and tortures his old predecessor in the basement of his European home, only to reveal the lies and corruption of their international hitman agency by taking a journey through the manipulations of the old man’s past.

Evidence supports that the CIA manipulated musicians and activists to promote drugs for social control, particularly regarding the Civil Rights and anti-war movements. Some musicians that resisted these manipulations were killed.