As Eastern Anatolian village tradition requires, 27 year old Medine must serve oven-roasted lamb at her five year old son Mert’s circumcision feast. Poor but determined, Medine puts the family to work cutting branches to earn something towards the price of the sheep they need. Ismail, Medine’s unemployed husband, is worried by his wife’s assertive behaviour. Envious of the attention Mert gets, his elder sister Vicdan makes Mert believe that if a sheep is not found he will be slaughtered instead.

A singer-prostitute arrives in town. The village leader finds Ismail a job in the slaughterhouse. Friends there lead Ismail astray, and his weakness makes it even harder to buy the sheep. Medine persists. Mert has his own motivation to search for an animal, with determination that rivals his mother’s. Refusing even her grandmother’s support Medine receives help and solidarity from an unlikely source.