Kit (Henry Golding, the Malaysian lead of Crazy Rich Asians) has traveled to Saigon — now Ho Chi Minh City — for the first time since his childhood. Thirty years before, his family had fled during the Vietnam war, and Kit has returned to scatter his parents’ ashes. He does not get the welcome he anticipated.

Comfortable with his sexuality, Kit quickly hooks up with Lewis (Parker Sawyers), a Black American entrepreneur, on an M4M app. Depicted casually, their sexual encounters intensify, and it’s clear both men are attracted to the other. And yet, like all the characters Kit meets in Saigon, Lewis has a hidden reason for being there.

Monsoon is a spellbinding film in which Golding gives a sensitive portrayal of a gay man isolated from the hustle surrounding him. Will he remain a stranger in his homeland?