After five years in prison for grand theft auto, Vince returns to Toronto. Kranski, his old boss, insists that he repay a large debt (money lost in his arrest) by boosting cars. His cover is a mechanic's job at Kranski's garage. In his spare time, Vince welds pieces of scrap metal into sculptures; a trendy gallery owner spots one and sells it for thousands and commissions more. Art might be Vince's ticket out if he can get Kranski off his back. Meanwhile, Vince's prolix parole officer is circling, and Kristen, the gallery owner's assistant, beguiles Vince.

Alejandro, a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, young Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister, Isamar.