It is 1999, and Sinan is caught up in everyday problems. Despite hardships, he must be a role model for his nine-year-old son Ýsmail, who is preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony. His teenage daughter Ýrem grows more resentful of having to help her mother, cover her glorious hair beneath a headscarf, and refrain from watching Western television. But the delicate stability of this family is about to be tested in the wake of an earthquake that will strip Sinan of his home and livelihood, and with them his certainty as a father, husband and man of faith. Sinan may yet find that everything he holds dear is destroyed, like the streets of Istanbul that lie in rubble beneath his feet.