Temple City (aka Tri-City) is a community populated by foreign immigrants and plagued with police corruption. Coming overseas with dreams of a better life Jimmy Truong and his family immigrated to America. However with the death of his father and limited sources of income, his older brother Johnny, younger sister Jenny, and mother May moved to the Chinatown projects of Temple City. Johnny now the head of the household and barely making enough, starts dealing drugs to support his family. After a deal that went wrong Johnny gets arrested and Jimmy now becomes the man of the house. During Johnny’s arrest officer Peter Wong injures May putting her in the hospital where Jimmy starts to despise the ones that “Protect and Serve.” With a “Never Backing Down” attitude along with constant financial burden and stress from his family, Jimmy reaches out to his gangster friend Eric for help. Out of desperation Jimmy joins Eric’s gang the “Fook Sing’s” one of Chinatown’s most notorious triad organization to make ends meet. With intentions to just make enough and walk away, Jimmy meets his fist rival David Tao from “Ming’s Gang.” Jimmy is now on their hit list with no choice but to stay in Fook Sing for protection where he quickly moves up the ranks. Will Jimmy finally be able to support his family and leave the Fook Sings or will his rise in the gang leading him to be one of the most notorious Asian crime lords in American history?

Shot in San Francisco, the film “The Life” is not just about survival, but also corruption, jealously, greed, power and what a man is willing to do when his back is up against the wall. This gangster movie is unlike your typical Asian Triad movie. The story focuses on how immigrating and growing up in America has its struggles. The story takes a deep look into Jimmy’s stressful family life and the causes which lead him to a life of crime.

Also check out the short film Yellow.

The Life Trailer