When the grandfather of Rana, an ocean-loving and excitable 10-year-old, passes away, so does their weekly ritual of swimming together at the magical Malkiya beach on the small desert island of Bahrain. Rana, instead, turns to her indoor-loving, public-fearing grandmother, Bushra, to keep the tradition alive. One problem—Bushra has never swum. In fact, she hates anything to do with the beach—the sticky sand, the oppressive heat, the monstrous sea. All those watching, judging eyes. But, struck by her own grief and her granddaughter’s insistence, Bushra reluctantly agrees to take Rana to the beach—just for this special day: their shared birthday.

Upon arriving at the beach, Rana quickly discovers Bushra’s interpretation of visiting the beach vastly differs from her own. As Bushra is confronted by the elements she most fears, she also slowly begins to see her surroundings through the eyes of her granddaughter—noting its little sparks of leisure and delight, for the first time in years. As Rana unlocks Bushra’s buried capacity for joy—through a shared ice cream cone, a fantastical swing ride and a turtle-shaped swim tube—Bushra begins to release her rigid ways and imagine herself into a space she has never before—the ocean.