The third feature from Tran Anh Hung, the Vietnamese director of The Scent of Green Papaya and Cyclo, A La Verticale de L'Ete charts a few weeks in the lives of three closely-knit sisters living in Hanoi. Suong (Nguyen Nhu Quynh), the eldest sister, runs a restaurant where she employs her youngest sister, the 23-year-old Lien (Tran Nu Yen Khe) as a waitress. Their middle sister, Khanh (Le Khanh) is newly-pregnant and happily married, and, along with their brother, Hai (Ngo Quang Hai), joins the others at a celebration to mark the anniversary of their mother's death. At the celebration, which takes place at Suong's restaurant, it becomes apparent that, although close, the sisters have secrets they keep from one another. Both Suong and Khanh quietly suspect their respective husbands of infidelity, a reasonable suspicion in Suong's case, as her spouse has a second wife and family outside of the city. Meanwhile, Lien, a laid-back romantic, lives with her brother, with whom she shares an almost unnaturally-close bond and to whom she compares potential suitors. Emotional tumult ensues as the desire to maintain appearances grows stronger.