The night before their first day of nursing school in 1976, two female immigrants to Vancouver endure racism and homesickness. Esther and Sai are strangers with a few things in common: they are new immigrant students, they are homesick and they are hungry. When a racially charged interaction with a grocer goes awry, each finds themselves back in their dorm room with the only meal they could find: a box of macaroni and cheese. A night of loneliness and self doubt threatens to unravel each of them, but ultimately meeting a kindred spirit sparks the possibility of belonging. Based on a true story, Esther & Sai captures the struggle of immigrating to a new country through the beginning of a lifelong friendship.