The documentary is narrated by Chai, who presents the results of her year-long research mostly in the form of a lecture, reminiscent of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. As well as data, she reveals footage from factory visits and interviews with government officials, environmental experts and business owners.  She also speaks with officials from London and Los Angeles on how their respective cities have managed to deal with historic issues of pollution. 
 

The film shows that China is losing its "war on pollution".  The targets of her film include state-owned oil companies such as China National Petroleum Corporation, which has also been the subject of the government's anti-corruption crackdown. Chai also critices PetroChina andSinopec. These companies set their own production standards and the Ministry of Environmental Protection is largely powerless to respond. Steel producers and coal plants also ignore regulations to maximise profits.  Chai visits a steel producer in Hebei province with a government inspector to measure levels of pollutants. Months later, it has yet to pay its fines but a provincial official tells her that it is not possible to shut down such factories and sacrifice employment for the sake of the environment. 

Towards the end of the film, Chai urges individuals to take responsibility. She convinces a restaurant to use environmentally more sound equipment. She says: "This is how history is made. With thousands of ordinary people one day saying, 'No, I'm not satisfied, I don't want to wait. I want to stand up and do a little something.'"