Anh's mother is harassed by communist guards on a train, and a young man her age steps in to defend her.

Anh's extended family boards a cramped, leaking boat called the Motherfish and sets off across the sea to escape Communist Vietnam.

A communist patrol boat spots the Motherfish and opens fire as the family attempts to cross into international waters.

A gang of pirates boards the Motherfish and strips the refugees of all their possessions, including the boat's engine.

A German rescue ship saves the refugees after Anh's father sinks the Motherfish with an axe to satisfy legal requirements.

After settling in Australia, Anh's mother sets up a clothing business, sewing garments for sale from the family home.

Anh and his brother Khoa score high enough on a special exam to win partial scholarships to the elite St. Aloysius school.

A batch of tainted feed kills all the ducks on the family farm, destroying the business and plunging the family into debt.

After losing the farm, Anh's father descends into alcoholism, becomes abusive toward his family, and is thrown out of the house.

Anh arms himself with a kitchen knife to confront his drunken father outside the family home, and his father breaks down and leaves.

After interviewing at law firms, Anh turns down a high-paying job offer and commits to building a career in stand-up comedy.

Just one year into his comedy career, Anh wins the Comedian of the Year award at the Harold Park Hotel.

Anh confesses his feelings to Suzie over dinner, and she admits she has no idea why they are not already together.

Anh drives to Melbourne to meet his estranged father for the first time in years and discovers the man has a brain tumor.

Anh's father tells Anh that his brain tumor is benign and responding to treatment, crediting his children's visits for his recovery.

Anh Do's story begins with his parents' unlikely meeting in Communist Vietnam, where his father's bold intervention on a train brings his future family together. When communist rule threatens their freedom, the Do family stages a dangerous sea escape, fighting off gunboats and pirates before being rescued and taken to Australia. In Australia, Anh's mother builds a clothing business that sustains the family through lean years, while his father's ambitious ventures lead to financial ruin and a descent into alcoholism that drives him out of the family home. Anh grows up fast, forced to confront his drunken father one terrifying night before cutting off contact for the rest of his childhood. As a young adult, Anh chooses comedy over law and hustles his way to becoming one of Australia's most recognized comedians, while finally winning over the woman he has loved for years. The story closes with a hard-won family reunion as Anh reconnects with his estranged father and receives the news that his father's brain tumor is benign.

The headline events of Anh Do's journey from Vietnam to Australian success.

Anh's father sneaks into a communist prison camp disguised as a superior officer and secures the release of his wife's two brothers.

Delirious from heat and thirst, seventeen-year-old Loc jumps from the refugee boat into the ocean and cannot be found or saved.

A second band of pirates threatens baby Khoa, and the desperate refugees overpower and drive off the attackers through sheer force of numbers.

The rescued refugees are taken to Pulau Bidong, a camp in the Malaysian archipelago, where they begin to adapt to their changed circumstances.

At his new Australian primary school, Anh is assigned to write about his future career and declares he wants to be Prime Minister.

Anh tries to help his mother's sewing business and nearly loses his hand when it becomes caught in the industrial machine.

Uncle Six, Anh's favorite paternal uncle and a trusted member of the family business, vanishes one night without any explanation or farewell.

Anh's father's financial losses lead to a violent confrontation with his brother Uncle Three, who permanently returns to America afterward.

Anh asks to leave St. Aloysius to ease the financial burden on his mother, but she refuses and keeps working while ill.

Anh is robbed on a train, but the thieves abandon the effort when they realize his unusual name makes his transit pass useless.

On his first day of law school, Anh meets a tall woman named Suzie and the two quickly become close friends.

Anh's car is totaled in a collision with a bus, and the insurance payout allows the family to buy its first computer.

Anh secures a hosting contract for the variety show Rush TV and uses the steady income to buy his mother her own house.

Anh and his brother Khoa collaborate with Suzie to write the screenplay for Footy Legends, a film that becomes a turning point in Anh's career.

After retiring from sewing, Anh's mother becomes a motivational speaker on the corporate circuit, inspiring audiences with her refugee story.

Long before the boat escape, Anh's brave father secretly infiltrates a communist prison camp to free his wife's brothers, cementing the loyalty of her entire family. The sea crossing is marked by heartbreak when a teenage friend of the family dies after leaping overboard in delirium, and by unexpected defiance when the refugees fight off a second pirate attack to protect baby Khoa. After settling in Australia, Anh's early years are shaped by small but significant milestones: starting school, nearly losing his hand in a sewing machine, and watching his favorite uncle vanish without explanation. As a teenager, Anh navigates a challenging environment with quiet resilience, and as a young adult he meets his future wife Suzie on the very first day of law school. His growing career allows him to repay his mother's decades of sacrifice by buying her a house, and his collaboration with his brother Khoa on the film Footy Legends transforms both their careers. The segment closes with Anh's mother finding a new calling as a motivational speaker, completing her remarkable journey from illegal street vendor to public figure.

The supporting events that shaped Anh's family and his path to success.

Uncle Huy survives the destruction of his military boat in an explosion, a near-death experience that leads him to become a Jesuit priest.

During the canoe journey to the Motherfish, toddler Anh cries loudly and nearly alerts a group of nearby fishermen to the family's escape.

Under fire from a communist patrol boat, the Motherfish's primary engine bursts, but the backup engine barely carries the family to safety.

A massive storm at sea nearly capsizes the Motherfish and destroys most of the family's remaining food supply.

The family relocates their sewing operation into a factory space in Newtown, where Uncle Two and his family join them under one roof.

A large, angry boy named Big Sammy beats up Anh at primary school, then becomes his closest friend.

Anh's grandmother Ba Noi almost throws the family's Australian citizenship papers in the trash, mistaking the vital documents for clutter.

Anh forges his mother's signature to try out for the army reserves and earn a salary, but is turned away due to asthma.

Anh finally asks Suzie on a date, but she turns him down and tells him she sees him only as a friend.

Anh's mother's new sewing machines are stolen, and Anh's rage at his absent father drives him to try to track the man down.

Three months after Anh and Suzie begin dating, Anh proposes marriage and Suzie accepts.

While bonding with his father on the road, Anh learns his father has been tormented for years by guilt over Loc's death at sea.

Anh's grandmother reveals that Uncle Six is the biological son of her husband's affair, a secret the family had kept for decades.

Anh nominates his brother Khoa for Young Australian of the Year, and Khoa wins the award at a ceremony in the nation's capital.

In Vietnam, Anh encounters a boy who closely resembles him and feels the full weight of how different his life could have been.

From the very beginning, pivotal moments of luck and decision shape the Do family's fate, from Uncle Huy surviving a boat explosion that turns him toward faith, to toddler Anh's cries nearly exposing the family's secret escape. The sea crossing is defined by narrow escapes, including a bursting engine under gunfire and a storm that almost capsizes the boat, testing every member of the family's will to survive. In Australia, small turning points accumulate quietly: Anh's grandmother almost discarding vital citizenship papers, Anh's failed attempt to secretly enlist in the army reserves, and a stolen transit pass that ironically saves him from a beating. His university years are shaped by the slow evolution of his friendship with Suzie, including a rejected date that keeps their bond platonic for years before circumstances finally align for them. Buried family secrets come to light in the final chapters, including his grandmother's revelation about Uncle Six's true parentage and his father's long-hidden guilt over deaths he blamed himself for. The pool ends on a note of earned gratitude as Anh returns to Vietnam and understands in his bones how much his family's sacrifice truly gave him.