Rokia, a 50-year-old divorced Arab woman, reunites with her twenty-year-old son, Youssef, after six months apart. During their reunion, Rokia insists on performing a ritual she has often imposed on him: washing him. Youssef becomes increasingly frustrated as she washes his hair, scrubs his elbows, and cleans his ears. The ritual feels both mentally and physically painful to him. Despite his resistance, he begins to understand that his mother's unusual way of expressing love and care runs deeper than simply wanting him to be clean.