Set over the course of twelve hours in the Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles, The Exiles follows a group of young Native American men and women who have relocated from reservations to the city as part of mid-20th-century federal relocation programs. The film depicts their lives in bars, pool halls, and streets, exploring themes of alienation, searching for identity, and longing for home. With a cinéma vérité style, The Exiles shows the tension between tradition and modern urban life, capturing both moments of joy and the quiet despair of disconnection.

Shot in Los Angeles with non-professional Native American actors, the film captures one long night in the lives of Indigenous men and women who left reservations for the city. Raw and authentic, The Exiles has been called one of the most important depictions of Native American urban life ever put on film.