Ali, Kouka, Omar and Boubker are a group of young street kids, or "chemkaras" as they are called, living on the streets of Casablanca in Morocco. For years, the streets have been their home and the jungle of people who inhabit them, their family. Their everyday lives are filled with violence, begging, prostitution and indifference. In order to survive, they take refuge in sniffing glue together, daydreaming and the strong bond of friendship between them. This bond is cut short when Ali Zaoua is senselessly killed at the beginning of the film by a blow to the head, his life taken in an act of vengeance by a rival gang.

After getting over the initial shock, Ali's three friends decide not to report his death to the police, who would probably have the boy buried in a potter's field. Instead, they decide to give him a burial worthy of a prince because, as Kouka says, "He may have lived like a little shit, but he's not going to be buried like one." Despite their precarious situation and the magnitude of the task at hand, Ali's three friends are determined to give their friend the burial they feel he deserves.

They first hide Ali Zaoua's body, in order to bury him on a Friday, the holy day. They then try to locate Ali's mother, who works as a prostitute in a bar, in hopes of convincing her to attend Ali's funeral, even though it's been years since she last saw her son. Finally they attempt to scrounge up some money to pay for a Fqiha who would recite from the Koran at the funeral. But the money they manage to collect is instead used to buy Ali a sailor's uniform for his burial, since Ali had always dreamed of sailing off in search of his own private island.

As the three friends work to collect money and resources for the funeral of their friend, they are pursued and threatened by Manar, the ruthless bully who leads the street gang to which Ali and his friends had once belonged. Manar and his gang threaten Kouka, Omar and Boubker - trying to get them to rejoin their ranks. The friends also become acquainted with Hamid, a surly sailor whom Ali had befriended who helps to guide the boys in their quest to bury Ali Zaoua. Meanwhile, Kouka develops a crush on Selwa, a young high school girl from a wealthy family that he sees from afar, and he creates an imaginary relationship with her.

As Kouka, Omar and Boubker work together to give Ali Zaoua an honorable burial, Ali's paradise - the island he so often dreamed of, progressively becomes an idyllic paradise for these three friends and for all the children of the streets.