The Madam can''t be seen, but she is present in all the rooms, empty of furnitures, in the house where the girls are, her prostitutes; most of them sold by their families to bring in a little money. They live in defiant poverty despite their line of work since the money goes to the Madam.

We are with them, in the rooms, sleeping on the floor, barely eating, getting pregnant, passing the time, but looking out for each other; supporting and caring for the sick until they recover or die.

The director Rithy Panh, manages with virtuosity, to be a "fly on the wall", and to get as close as is possible to them at the same time. And thus we sink with them into the mental death that they wish upon themselves in order to save their souls and their suffering bodies.