As the movie opens, Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is on the road with her common-law husband, Lee; he is an aging rock musician who's come close to stardom a time or two, but never quite made it. Most of his friends would probably tell you that his most recent failures are Emily's fault, and it's true that even at her best, Emily's not a very likable person. She's cold, distant, and self-absorbed.
Lee and Emily are both hooked on heroin, and very early in the movie, Lee overdoses, leaving Emily to survive on her own (Lee's friends blame her for his death, and want nothing to do with her). The only family Emily has is Jay, her son from her relationship with Lee, who currently lives with Lee's parents in Vancouver. Emily wants a relationship with Jay, and she's self-aware enough to realize that she needs to get off drugs and put her life into some semblance of order before she'll be capable of caring for a child.
Jay's grandmother, Rosemary (Martha Henry), blames Emily for Lee's death, and isn't even willing to consider the possibility that Emily might one day be capable of raising Jay; grandfather Albrecht (Nick Nolte) is more willing to forgive, and that willingness becomes Emily's touchstone, the one thing she can cling to.
The performances by Cheung and Nolte are quite marvelous. Cheung manages to gain our sympathy for Emily, without ever avoiding or sugar-coating the character's obnoxious traits. (She won the Best Actress award at the 2004 Cannes festival for this performance.) Nolte is entirely convincing, giving full weight to both Albrecht's pain and his compassion. Don McKellar also does very good work in a small role as Lee's manager.
There's a subplot in which Emily is attempting to establish her own career as a singer, and it's not at all convincing, because Cheung can't sing. But aside from those few painful scenes, Clean is a strong piece of work, often bleak but ultimately delivering a powerful message about the importance of forgiveness, and of having someone who believes in you even when you find it difficult to believe in yourself.
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