Lin Xiaoman, 26, unemployed and single, moves from a luxury apartment into a rooftop room in an urban village.
One late night, after being berated over the phone for not getting married, she crouches on the rooftop and cries, "Will someone please save me?" When she returns to her room, three old men appear one after another: a lazy old man who is always lying down, a stern old man in a long robe, and a mad old man who watches ants.
They set out to "guide" her. Laozi teaches her to lie flat and let go of her emotions. Confucius teaches her to work hard and find a job. Zhuangzi teaches her to step back and see herself clearly. She tries again and again, and fails again and again. A delivery driver thinks she's crazy, her landlord slips her the number of a therapist, and finally her parents drag her to the psychiatric department (the scene the title is based on).
At her breaking point, all three appear at once. In that moment, she suddenly recognizes them: these three "lunatics" are Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi, etched into the genes of the Chinese people. They are gone because they already live within us.
