In a crumbling colonial mansion besieged by slums in the old quarter of Algiers, Lamia lives a life of self-imposed isolation, communing only with her ghosts by day, working as a paediatrician by day. Her family are dead, but for her beloved brother Sofiane, who has become a harraga one of those who risk their lives attempting to flee the country for a better life in Europe/elsewhere. Lamia's tranquil, ordered existence is turned upside-down when a sixteen-year-old stranger knocks on her door i ...