Poverty spreading in an Arab ghetto in the neo-Zionist nation state of Israel, 23-year-old nurse NADIR struggles to provide for his pregnant wife ORLI, whose suggestion to sell herself has him sleepless. Upon receiving a conditional work visa, he gets to work at an Israeli pet shop, but a racist colleague accuses him of sexual assault in a bid to get rid of him. As punishment, Nadir gets assaulted by a border guard himself. He returns home to tell Orli to forget about sex work once and for all: he has just had his initiation and might as well keep doing it for cash.
Nadir's first punter, wealthy exit permit holder UZAIR, mentions Nadir's cousin FADI joining the resistance as a bomb engineer. Nadir is horrified to discover Uzair is connected to his religious and well-known family. Afraid Uzair may out him, Nadir lets himself be pimped and used by the man.
Another punter, ABDUL, claims to have slept with Nadir before, but while utterly confused by this, Nadir worries more about his own compliance.
Nadir hunts down his best friend and chemist AMEER, whom he suspects of paying Orli for sex, and, after a violent argument, ends up in Ameer's bed. The next day, he and Ameer track down Fadi to try and convince him to abandon his endeavours, but Fadi dies in an accidental detonation.
Stuck at Ameer's during a storm, Nadir is offered lentils in exchange for sex and questions his own worth, eventually choosing the monsoon over sociopath Ameer. He wakes up sick and handcuffed in an Israeli hospital bed after passing out in the storm and Orli pleading with authorities to hospitalize him as her ward. His stay becomes a nightmare when he finds himself surrounded by racists with knowledge in pharmaceutics. He resents Orli for volunteering to be his owner on paper, another blow in a series of humiliation by the Zionist machine.
Nadir seeks solace in his toxic relationship with Ameer. Nadir's father walks in on them, and Nadir's relationship with his parents deteriorates. While discussing ways to reconnect with them, he and his younger sister NASREEN witness the demolition of Fadi's parents' home, executed by the same soldier who had assaulted Nadir. When the soldier gets injured in the process, Nadir has his revenge.
Seven months along, Orli loses her pregnancy, and Nadir withdraws. At a sex party, where he is passed around by his pimp Uzair, Nadir's previous client, Abdul, reveals to him that he used to be his teacher who would drug and abuse him after class. Though finally understanding where his docility comes from, Nadir has no idea how to break free after so long.
At a town gathering, Nadir demands to know who poisoned his cat. He learns that the townspeople had laid out poison bait to fight the Israeli military dogs sent to attack people after curfew. During the debate, Nadir angers some residents who end up outing him as a prostitute. Rescued by his friends from a lynch mob that same night, Nadir realizes his choices are putting his loved ones in danger. He announces his excommunication in order to distance himself from any religious values his actions violate.
After another argument with Orli, Nadir spends the day with Ameer, when the air raid siren sounds. With Ameer's help, Nadir gets the townspeople to safety, but learns that his mother suffered a heart attack worrying about him. Grieving for their shared loss, Nadir and his father briefly reconnect, only to end up fighting once more. During his mother's wake, Nadir has to discipline Nasreen repeatedly for her hostile behaviour towards Orli, until Nasreen confesses her romantic feelings for him.
Nadir assists in a difficult childbirth after which the doctor confronts him about his unsafe work methods, and Nadir asks to be tested for HIV. The test yielding a false positive, Nadir, exhausted and broken, overdoses on the doctor's stocked sedatives.
Recovering from his suicide attempt, Nadir has no strength to fight off an over-zealous Nasreen and nearly ends up between her legs. On his way to Ameer to get a mood stabilizer for her, Nadir encounters Uzair, snaps, and starts a fight, but his uncle KHALEEL is nearby and intervenes.
Ameer jokes about wanting a go at Nasreen, and Nadir loses his wits and ends up killing him.
As he flees the scene, Nadir once more walks into Uzair and Khaleel, who, unaware of Uzair's intentions, settles the previous dispute by offering the man Nadir's temporary service as a domestic aid.
Nadir is briefly summoned by his father to sign the divorce papers a once more pregnant Orli requested. Knowing Orli is still seeing Ameer, he demands to know who the father is, only to end up watching Orli walk through the ghetto gates.
A blissfully drunk sex slave, Nadir is losing his appeal among the local punters, and Uzair decides to silence him. Nadir looks forward to some hard-earned peace, when, after learning of Uzair's deeds, Khaleel appears and shoots Uzair and takes Nadir home.
Nasreen not letting go of her incestuous affections and his entourage shrinking, Nadir begins to nurture an intense hatred for himself and his life. All around him, poverty claims life after life, with no hope for freedom in sight.
Come spring, Nadir saves the life of a curfew dog and falls in love with its finder, a new ghetto resident named RAWAN. He introduces her to Nasreen and uses the opportunity to reject the latter's feelings once and for all, causing her to throw a tantrum and run away. Nadir finds her on top of the ghetto wall, and, unable to dissuade her from jumping, decides to deter her by jumping to his own death.
