Ilyas, an expatriate writer who lived most of his adult life in Australia, returns to Turkey in the hope of finding inspiration for his new book. Instead, he ends up having to deal with the breakdown of a relationship and, a deepening writer's block, in a land he feels estranged.

Four friends become unlikely bystanders to an incident of domestic violence. What will they do?

The movie takes the audience on a journey through time by throwing light on the vicious cycle of an era, taking place at the beginning of the seventies. The director gives life to the story on screen by telling the story of a child, Hasan, who in the dilemma of poverty and deprivation of a small village is bound to life by the love to his mother. It shows, Hasan struggling to earn money by selling 'ayran' and how people around him sort out their problems with their own lives.

Kuzey runs a hotel called Karayel in Eski Foça with his friend Sami. In 1998, a young and beautiful woman named Şafak comes to Eski Foça to conduct research on Greek villages and stays at the Karayel Hotel. Şafak falls in love with Kuzey, but Kuzey only cares for her. Şafak leaves Kuzey five times, but always returns… On her final departure, she disappears while driving away. All searches prove fruitless; Şafak is missing. Kuzey continues searching for Şafak for five years with his friend, the fisherman Yunus… In 2003, Çiğdem arrives at the hotel. Çiğdem, who is Kuzey’s brother’s assistant, takes on the hotel’s debts and saves it from bankruptcy. During this time, Çiğdem also develops feelings for Kuzey. This only serves to remind Kuzey of Şafak once again. After Fisherman Yunus tells him that he found the remains of Şafak’s car underwater, Kuzey leaves the hotel. He goes to the same place to meet Şafak…