Lieutenant Abdel, an
Algerian-French soldier, holds a press conference outside a police station after his 13-year-old brother, Idir, dies in the hospital, apparently the result of three policemen beating him and then leaving him for dead. He appeals for calm after the death, but a group of youths, led by Abdel's brother Karim, disrupt the press conference by tossing a
Molotov cocktail and raiding the police station. After stealing a weapons locker, some tactical gear and a police van, the youths head back to their
banlieue, Athena, where Abdel also grew up. They begin to barricade themselves and the residents of Athena inside the housing complex.
CRS riot police are sent to put down the uprising, and the youths respond by shooting fireworks and other improvised missiles at the police. In the middle of the chaos, a drug dealer, Moktar, tries to move bags of contraband out of Athena. With the youths refusing to let him leave, Moktar and his gang take shelter in Athena's
shisha lounge, where they dig a hole to stash the contraband until the uprising has passed. Abdel returns to Athena to attend a memorial service for Idir. He sees Karim and tries to speak to him, but the younger brother evades him when the memorial service is disrupted by the ongoing violence outside. Abdel then helps to organize an evacuation and shelter for Athena's residents, including a former terrorist in Syria, Sébastien, whom Abdel shelters in Athena's daycare center. While leading a group of residents past a group of riot police, an altercation begins, and Abdel and other residents of Athena are
kettled and arrested. Night falls, and the riot police move in on the housing complex. Their units are forced to retreat, and in the ensuing chaos, a young officer, named Jerôme, is separated from his unit and captured by the youths. They send a video of Jerôme to the police and threaten to kill him unless the three policemen who beat Idir are identified. Abdel is released from custody by the on-site police commander and sneaks into Athena, where he confronts Karim about the violent uprising that he has incited. He attempts to leave with Jerôme, but the youths pursue them, and both are forced to take shelter in the shisha lounge. Moktar greets Abdel, and it is revealed that they are half-brothers. Moktar calls the policemen who are on his payroll, and they agree to come rescue Jerôme. Karim, who is intent on recapturing Jerôme, confronts Abdel through the security shutter covering the front of the shisha lounge, while the others try to break in through a side door. The standoff is ended when Karim attacks the arriving policemen, and is shot dead. Enraged by his brother's death, Abdel savagely beats Moktar and captures Jerôme for himself. He calls the police commander, reiterates the rioters' demands for the policemen's names and instructs Sébastien to aid the youths. The police commander calls once more and insists that the policemen on the video are not actual police. He also warns Abdel that the
RAID police tactical unit and the military are being sent in. On a video call with the commander, Abdel points his gun at Jerôme and fires twice but is revealed to have intentionally missed. Overcome by emotion, Abdel makes no attempt to stop Jerôme from leaving the building. With the tactical team closing in, a few of the building levels are blown up by makeshift bombs that were created by Sébastien, killing Abdel and a few policemen. A man in a van is shown to be recording the beating of Idir in a video, which is later posted on social media. The policemen are revealed to be far-right instigators in disguise. They enter the van, drive into the woods and burn the uniforms that they had worn, which reveals that the beating was a deliberate attempt to incite
racial unrest. == Cast ==