Tetouan, the Atlantic port city in the north of Morocco. Three young men decide to rob a jewelery store. They are among the hopelessly unemployed street population of Morocco's provincial cities, common thugs in the eyes of many but bound by solidarity and friendship. They see the heist as a means to break out of a cycle of poverty that weighs on their destiny like a life sentence. Malik, a dashing 26-year-old man, is in love with Dounia, a cabaret dancer. He wants start-up capital to help rescue her from a life of prostitution and make a new future for them as a couple. Allal, the toughest of the three, wants fast cash to stake a solid entry into the business of drug-smuggling. Impish high-school dropout Soufiane, the young­est of the group, has his own motives for wanting to kill the jewelery store owner. But the plan goes awry and the men's destinies splinter.