In a highly charged January, Nikolai, a French theatre director on a visit to Cairo for family reasons, and Nadia, an Egyptian psychologist determined to find her own place, come together over their shared love for books. The growing tension in the clinic, the waves of heat and madness in the street, and their rediscovery of the work of a certain Anton Tchekhov push them—together, yet each in their own way—to reconsider their lives.