An Algerian photographer has largely renounced tradition and settled down to a quiet life with his partner in the Mediterranean city of Bejaia. Then his sister asks him to return to his home village to restore the family's honor. Together with his friend, he embarks on an adventurous journey into the hinterland. A portrait of a homosexual friendship that also reflects the social and political tensions in his country of origin.

Three young friends—a girl (Asma) and two boys (Fawzi and Ramdane)—bound by a loving friendship, lead a carefree life. The riots of October 1988, the repression, the democratic explosion, and the Islamist drift that followed turn their lives upside down. Fawzi, a journalist involved in the independent press movement, and Ramdane, a doctor sensitive to the concerns of ordinary people, drift apart, separate, and find themselves caught up in a confrontation that is beyond their control. Asma tries in vain to prevent the trio from breaking up... But none of the three emerges unscathed...