The film tells the story of a sensitive and complex relationship between a mother and her ailing son. Like in Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale "The Loveliest Rose in the World" where a prince must search for a rose to save his mother, who is dying in bed, "Tied Hands" sees a reversal of roles as a desperate mother goes out to find marijuana, to ease her son's pain. In her, turbulent journey in the streets of Tel-Aviv, old truths from her past come back to life and threaten to break down a wall of denials behind which, she's been hiding all her life.

An Israeli car and a Palestinian car are stuck in traffic in front of a barricade at the entrance of Jerusalem, coming from the Dead Sea. Yuval and Mahmoud, both seven years old boys, find its much more fun to pass the time playing with one another. But when Mahmoud's father tries to cut into the other's lane, Yuval's father bumps into his car in an attempt to prevent him, and things start to get complicated. What began as a game becomes an outright battle over a plastic Batman doll.

Avraham, a small–time contractor tries to succeed by gambling on projects that exceed his capabilities, until one of these projects finds him drowning in debts. Under the threat of the financial difficulties his family rediscovers the strength of their ties.

Gili sees his father as a vampire feeding off the energy and vitality of his family. With no real ability to resist, he watches his father humiliate his mother and his little brother. Reluctantly, he joins a family trip to the desert which leads to a terrifying sequence of events.

For the first time in years, secular Noah meets his Hasidic siblings in the heart of the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem. A tense gathering to disclose the recently deceased patriarch’s will.