Dirty Pretty Things

Okwe, a Nigerian doctor living illegally in London, works two jobs to make ends meet. During the day he chews betel to stay awake at the wheel of his minicab. At night he mans the font desk of a modest hotel. Senay, a Turk who dreams of moving on to New York, is a chambermaid at the same hotel. Okwe and Senay are attracted to each other, and at one point must share a small apartment, but they are kept apart by their different religions, customs and languages. One day, trying to unclog a stopped toilet in the room used by the resident prostitute, Okwe finds a human heart lodged at the bottom of the bowl. When he presents the specimen to Sneaky, the hotel manager, he learns that an unthinkable trade is being practised on his watch. What's more, Sneaky makes Okwe an offer he can't refuse: a visa in exchange for his medical skill. Hounded by IND agents, desperate for cash, yet horrified by the prospect of trafficking in human flesh, Okwe must decide whether he can bear to pay the price of asylum.