In the not-so-distant future, a married man investigates a counterfeiter and ends up the perpetrator of an ethical crime in Code 46, the latest film from prolific British director Michael Winterbottom. Set against the backdrop of a technologically advanced Shanghai, where people are only allowed to travel between countries with official passports called "papelles," the film charts the efforts of Seattle native William (Tim Robbins) to get to the bottom of a contraband-papelle operation within the walls of a high-tech company that manufactures them. There he finds Maria (Samantha Morton), an enigmatic young woman who may or may not be selling the passports on the black market. William has a brief affair with Maria, which, despite his attempts to return home, causes him to become embroiled in an even bigger controversy in Shanghai.