At the end of the 1990s, in an Algerian society torn between conservatism and changing customs, Nadir, a member of a gang, is ordered to recruit a girl, but he refuses to do so because he is in love with her.

This movie portrays three women living in today's Algeria between modern society and Islamic fundamentalism, self-determination and dependence. Goucem, a young woman who works for a photographer and mistress of a rich doctor, her mother Papicha, a former cabaret star, and her best friend Fifi, a prostitute, all live in a hotel in the city center of Algiers. Their difficult personal situation and the growing influence of Islam lead to dramatic consequences...