[11] The film, set in 2019, tells a true story about a young Yemeni middle-class couple, Ahmed and Israa, and their three children in the city of Aden, Yemen.

[12] Israa discovers that she is pregnant with a fourth child, causing shock to the couple, who lost their jobs after the civil war in 2015, which led to a crippling economic crisis in Yemen.

[16] When the couple reaches a dead end with doctors, Ahmed is able to find traditional midwifery services capable of performing the abortion at home.

[19] The film ends with a new day in Aden, where the family heads to the children's school, and on the parents' faces, there is a mixture of temporary relief and fear of the future.

[20] In 2021,[21] director Amr Gamal started shooting his second feature film, The Burdened, which was shot entirely in Aden City with a joint Yemeni and foreign crew.

[38] Jonathan Romney of Screen International said, "What’s striking is how extremely spare and to the point Gamal’s storytelling style is: there’s zero fat on the bones of this story, giving the film a taut directness".