The film opens in a refugee camp in Sri Lanka, with people hustling in a panic to get out of the country. A man, a woman, and an orphan child pose as a family (using three passports found on dead bodies) in order to get tickets on the boat that will take them to a plane that will then take them to France. Sivadhasan pretending to be Dheepan (the name on the passport) Yalini , and the child Illayaal huddle on the getaway boat with the other refugees. The three do not know one another, but their fates are now tied together. They are father, mother, and child in the eyes of the world and the lie must be maintained. It is the only thing that will save them.