After 11-year-old Zachary Cowan strikes his classmate across the face with a stick after an argument, the victim's parents invite Zachary's parents to their Brooklyn apartment to deal with the incident in a civilized manner.

The story takes place in Haifa, Israel, in 1979, during three days before the Shabbat. A young woman trying to raise three children, work from home, and observe the strict Moroccan traditions of her family finds herself at constant odds with her husband and her brothers, who want her to stay married and leave behind the notions of being loved and free.

Pilar is a Spanish widow who has raised her three daughters in France. In love with Fernand, the manager of the building in which she lives, she organizes a lunch in her home with the intention of introducing him to the rest of the family. The reunion goes wildly wrong and the family's craziness overtakes.