The Absence of Eden takes place at the border between the United States and Mexico – a hellish landscape inhabited by coyotes, armed officers, desperate immigrants, and refugees. When Esmee (Zoe Saldana), a young woman working as a private dancer in Mexico, is forced to commit a violent act of self-defense that results in the death of a cartel member, she flees her homeland for sanctuary in the U.S. Guided by a ruthless Coyote and a group of undocumented immigrants, she befriends a young mother and daughter along the way. Before crossing the border, the mother is taken from the group, and Esmee promises to protect her daughter and help them reunite again in America, touching off an interlocking story about the struggle to survive on America's border with Mexico.