China's economic transformation since 1980 has led 300 million farm workers to migrate to the cities to find employment. Their children, like 9 year old Shi Tianbao, can either go with their parents and live an unstable life or stay in the countryside at risk of abuse. Due to their peasants' identity, 100 million children are destined to be the outsiders of Chinese society. Despite this harsh reality, Tianbao and his friends found a ray of hope one summer when they discovered Shakespeare's plays. The Outsiders is an intimate and moving documentary, filled with humor and pathos.