故事发生在今天的北非和中东间的某个小村落。自古以来,顶着烈日去深山挑水的重担一直落在村里的女人身上。新婚的Leila建议女人们向男人“开战”:如果他们不去挑水,便再也无权享受鱼水之欢。In a remote and primitive patriarchal village between the North of Africa and the Middle East, the land has dried and the women traditionally bring water from a distant fountain to their houses while the idle husbands drink tea in the bar. The educated Leïla, who is the wife of the local teacher Sami, begins a sex strike movement among the women, supported by the elder Vieux Fusil (meaning old flintlock), to force the men to bring water to the village. They must face the strong reaction of the brutal men.