[2][3][4] After Moroccan entrepreneur Moulay Hassan (Omar Sharif) abruptly dies of a heart attack members of his family come together for a three-day mourning period over his death.

Foremost among the mourners are Aicha (Hiam Abbass), his wife, and his three daughters Miriam (Nadine Labaki), Kenza (Lubna Azabal) and Sofia (Morjana Alaoui).

Furthering the rift between her and her family is the fact that her older sister Leyla committed suicide years before, in part because Moulay was controlling towards her and refused to let her marry Zakaria, the son of their maid, who she was in love with.

Despite trying to reconnect with her family Sofia finds herself feuding with them when they discover that she is divorcing her American husband and is critical of her sisters' decisions to marry Moroccan men whom their father approved of but whom they do not love.

Initially horrified, they decide to forgive their mother after she tells them that she remained silent to preserve family unity.