Synopsis

Michelle is the second child and first daughter in a Mongondow family that migrated to Java long ago. After decades of running a family restaurant serving Manado cuisine, her mother announces that she wants to return to the village and pass the restaurant on to one of her children.

Michelle, who has led the family most responsibly in keeping with the customs of Mongondow women, learns that her mother intends to give it to Peter, her older brother. As both feel entitled to succeed her, the friction between custom and gender norms leads Michelle to a discovery about her mother's past.