In a near future, in a world ruled by a totalitarian government, checking of the genetic code is mandatory for any type of possible relationship between man and woman. The investigator from Seattle William (Tim Robbins) travels to Shanghai to investigate the faking and stealing of special Visas called "papelles". The main suspect is Maria Gonzales (Samantha Morton), who works in the company Sphinx, but William falls in love for her and protects her. They have a passionate one night stand, and sooner they find that they are genetically incompatible to each other and they have violated the Code 46.

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