The film begins dramatically with the robbery of a jewelry store that ends in violence, then flashes back to reveal what led to the robbery until the revisited opening sequence also becomes the film's unsettling conclusion. Hussein, played by heavy-set Hussein Emadeddin, a non-professional actor, is a pizza deliveryman, and his job takes him through the city. He is also engaged to the sister of his friend Ali.

When the three visit a jewelry store to buy something appropriate for the impending marriage, they are cruelly humiliated. Their interest in going there has been piqued by the Ali's discovery of a handbag with a receipt for an extremely expensive necklace from that store, which caters to the upper class, with prices to match. Once there the three must bear the disdain with which they are regarded. Other events happen to compound Hussein's frustration. On one delivery he finds police staked out to arrest those who exit a party from illegal drinking, dancing and women being illegally out on their own, a scene that implicitly criticizes Iran's stringent moralistic rules. Hussein isn't allowed in the building, yet another humiliation.

Further upset occurs when he is invited into a fancy apartment occupied by a spoiled son of a rich father. Although Hussein is welcomed, he is overwhelmed by the lavish surroundings and lifestyle, all far beyond his station. Although he keeps his feelings to himself, the experience adds to the mounting resentments that lead him to the jewelry store.