Samia is a teenage girl of Algerian descent living with her family, including sisters and brothers, in Marseille. She must struggle with the tradition-bound rituals and behavior of her home life while transitioning into the modern world of which she must become a part. One of Samia's sisters has "un Francais" - a non-Algerian - as a boyfriend, something that irks her mother, who is constantly fighting to maintain and safeguard the old ways. When Samia's father is hospitalized, responsibility for maintaining "order" shifts to the eldest brother. As Samia begins to spread her wings, she finds herself at loggerheads with her mother and brother, upholders of the religious and cultural restrictions Samia renounces.