The film takes place during that fateful first night of the Los Angeles riots in 1992, a response to the acquittal of policemen charged with beating Rodney King. The story shows how different people were affected by the news and the subsequent rioting that followed. Antoine, a sixteen-year-old student, finds his neighborhood up in flames upon coming home from school. Meanwhile, a custodian finds himself in the middle of a botched heist as the riots are also escalating around them.