"Yú Cì (Fish Bones)" follows Bowen, a nonbinary Asian-American living in Queens. Bowen’s mother, Ai, quietly disapproves of Bowen’s gender expression. While struggling with their mother’s form of “acceptance,” Bowen sees their estranged father, Yuan, with another man in a private karaoke room. After this encounter, Bowen attempts to reconnect with Yuan by helping him deal with a poisonous fish bite.