Trama

In 1921, an innocent Polish immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.

In 1921, in search of a new start and the American Dream, Ewa Cybulska and her sister Magda sail to New York from their native Poland. When they reach Ellis Island, doctors discover that Magda is ill, and the two women are separated. Ewa is released onto the mean streets of Manhattan while her sister is quarantined. Alone, with nowhere to turn and desperate to reunite with Magda, she quickly falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man who takes her in and forces her into prostitution. One day, Ewa encounters Bruno's cousin, debonair magician Orlando. He sweeps Ewa off her feet and quickly becomes her only chance to escape the nightmare in which she exists.—Wild Bunch

In 1921, Ewa Cybulska and her sister Magda arrive at Ellis Island from Poland, full of guarded optimism. But things go wrong immediately: doctors quarantine Magda, and Ewa discovers that she has been branded a "woman of low moral standing" during passage. Scheduled for a deportation hearing, she is rescued by enigmatic, hot-tempered Bruno Weiss, who seems to have questionable connections with the immigration authorities. Bruno can secure Magda's release, and Ewa is so desperate to earn the money to do so that she reluctantly assents to join Bruno's stable of prostitutes...even as Bruno seems to be falling for her. Things are complicated further when Bruno's cousin Emil, aka "Orlando the Magician," meets Ewa and is instantly smitten. But with the suffering Ewa at the center, this is no ordinary love triangle.—emvan

In 1921, yearning to start afresh, Polish sisters Ewa and Magda Cybulska board a boat bound for New York City seeking a brighter future. Instead, on arrival to Ellis Island, Magda is placed in quarantine after receiving a grim, unexpected medical diagnosis, and the two women are forced to separate. Now, Ewa meanders on Manhattan's mean streets and falls under the spell of malevolent Bruno, an unscrupulous, immoral man who forces her into prostitution. One day, a ray of hope appears in the form of Bruno's cousin Orlando, a suave magician whose romantic interest in Ewa might be her ticket to a life worth living. Will Ewa manage to get back on her feet and live the American Dream?—Nick Riganas

In 1921, Polish Catholic sisters Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and Magda (Angela Sarafyan) arrive at Ellis Island, New York City as immigrants looking for a better life after escaping their ravaged home in post-Great War Poland. Magda is quarantined because of her lung disease. Ewa is almost deported, but Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), who is Jewish and claims to be from the Travelers' Aid Society, notices her and her fluency in English, bribes an officer to let her go, and takes her to his house. Knowing Ewa has to make money to get Magda released, Bruno lets her dance at the Bandits' Roost theater and prostitutes her. Bruno also becomes interested in her romantically and becomes totally infatuated with her

Ewa looks for her expatriate relatives living in New York, but her uncle by marriage turns her in to the authorities; he says he had heard she had gotten in trouble for engaging in illicit behavior on the ship from Europe, and he wishes to distance himself from sheltering a prostitute ( not knowing the true story that she had been forced upon by men on the boat in such awful conditions. Policemen take her back to Ellis Island, and once again she is slated for deportation. While at Ellis Island Ewa watches a performance by Emil (Jeremy Renner) (Bruno's cousin, making a living as a performing illusionist called Orlando); after his performance he hands her a white rose. The next morning Bruno manages to get her released. Ewa meets Emil again at the Bandit's Roost. Emil asks Ewa to come onstage to aid him in his mind reading trick, but the men in the audience start catcalling at Ewa calling her names and throwing things. The scene ends in a brawl between Bruno and Emil and with Bruno and the girls being fired from the theater. Soon after Bruno has his "doves" parade around Central Park to attract men to sleep with them. Another encounter between Emil and Ewa proves Emil's feelings for her. Emil falls for Ewa, much to Bruno's discontent, which causes continued and intense conflicts between the two men. One violent conflict concludes with Bruno being jailed overnight.

One day, Emil sneaks into Bruno's home to see Ewa. While there, he promises to get her the money to save her sister so they can all leave New York together. Coincidentally, shortly after making such promise, Emil hides as Bruno returns. Bruno also makes a promise to Ewa: he is to arrange for her a meeting with her sister. But Emil interrupts Bruno, as he pulls out an unloaded gun and points it at Bruno. Emil pulls the trigger just to frighten him, but his attempt at intimidating Bruno backfires, as Bruno stabs him to death in apparent self-defense.

Overcoming the shock and distress of the death, Bruno makes Ewa help him telling her she will be deported blamed for his murder so he and Ewa dump Emil's body in the street at night to get rid of unwanted police investigations, but the police are told by another the prostitute with whom Ewa had had conflicts who lived in the apartment with them that Ewa killed Emil. Bruno hides Ewa from the police, who then give him a severe beating and steal a large bundle of money he had been carrying. Ewa learns Bruno had enough money to pay for her sister's release all along but was hiding it from her as he did not want her to leave him.He tells her that he had arranged at the start to pull her out of the line and paid to get her but Bruno claims he has now had a change of heart and would help Ewa and her sister if he had any money. Ewa makes another contact with her aunt and successfully pleads for her aunt to give her the money for Magda and to get her blessing and forgiveness for her sins. With it, Bruno pays his contact on Ellis Island to release Ewa's sister and gives them both tickets to New Jersey. Ewa and Magda leave, while a repentant Bruno stays in New York, intending to confess to the police about Emil's killing.