Like each of the Iranian-British director Babak Jalali’s films to date, Fremont deals with the felt effects of geographical dislocation. Specifically, it follows the story of Donya (Anaita Wali Zada), an Afghan refugee and former translator for the US military. Settling in Fremont, California, she lives alone and works at a fortune cookie factory, trying to adapt to new surroundings while working through her difficult past. Like her friend’s baby next door, Donya is having trouble sleeping, although her insomnia is caused by guilt-induced PTSD and the sense that she has betrayed the Taliban by working for the enemy. She is able to see a psychiatrist (Gregg Turkington), but before prescribing her the sleeping pills she desires he wants to know more about the causes of her problems. Although she makes a good friend in the factory (Hilda Schmelling), Donya’s past traumas make it hard for her to engage romantically with anyone in her adopted homeland. But when she is promoted as the writer of cookie fortunes, Donya finds a renewed sense of purpose, and her own fortunes begin to look brighter.