@Don Lee In a Toronto quarantine hotel, enlightenment wears a mask. When Sydney, a former senior zookeeper, finds himself housed in the converted Beyta Boutique Hotel during the pandemic, he brings with him two things: a pocket full of animal crackers and the growing certainty that he is the reincarnation of the Buddha. His expertise with primates proves surprisingly useful in navigating the complex social dynamics of this makeshift shelter, where society's outcasts wait out the virus in what was once a five-star establishment. But as COVID-19 tightens its grip on the city, Sydney's past and present begin to blur. His memories of ancient India feel as real as the hotel's fluorescent-lit corridors, and the line between spiritual awakening and psychological crisis grows increasingly thin. Guided by Elijah, a brilliant but unhinged former philosophy professor who speaks in riddles and leaves cryptic messages about pigeons, Sydney must navigate both his emerging identity and the immediate challenges of life in isolation. When Sierra arrives at the hotel, her haunting presence forces Sydney to confront demons both ancient and modern. As he struggles to embody compassion in a place defined by suffering, he discovers that the path to enlightenment looks vastly different in the 21st century - but the fundamental questions remain the same: What is the nature of self? Can true connection survive in a world of social distancing? And can wisdom flourish in the most unlikely of places?

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