ALONG THE SEA follows three Vietnamese women in their early 20s, PHUONG, AN, and NHU. They moved to Japan to work as technical trainees. As they decide to escape their work place, where their passports have been confiscated, they are now illegal migrants in the country. A broker, based in a quiet fishermen village, helps them to find a shelter and a new job in a small fish factory. With their doubled salary, comes also a fisherman's ice-covered hut where they live together. As they begin their new life, PHUONG starts being sick and suffers severe stomach pains. When AN and NHU take her to a hospital, unable to show any ID card, they are refused admission. PHUONG decides to search for how to get fake documents.