Based on the autobiographical novel of director Abd Al Malik, MAY ALLAH BLESS FRANCE! is the story of a Congolese immigrant Regis' (Marc Zinga, MR. NOBODY) who is trying to start a rap group with friends Samir (Larouci Didi, ASPHALTE), Mike (Mickaël Nagenraft), tag-along younger brother Pascal (Matteo Falkone), and trouble-making friend Rachid (Abdelmajid 'Mickey' Barja), the brother of Regis' childhood friend/would-be girlfriend Nawel (Sabrina Ouazani, THE PAST). Regis is doing well in school and has a promising academic future, but he is more interested in applying his understanding of philosophy - particularly Albert Camus - to "express the inexpressible" beyond the usual fatalistic rap cliches ("The street is a bitch, and then you die. I do my rap to have a different eye; to let culture lift me high"). Pickpocketing proves insufficient to pay for their recording studio fees - particularly with Rachid cheating them - so Regis and his friends move on to dealing hashish (as opposed to drugs with the threat of harsher sentances if caught). When they decide they need a home studio, Regis turns a blind eye as Samir and Mike go into dealing drugs with Rachid. When they encounter the true violence of the streets (Regis in his narration surmises that movies like SCARFACE shaped the way their contemporaries saw themselves as drug deals and criminals), Regis and Iranian Samir decide to continue with their music but to leave their old life behind. While Regis (adopting the name Abd Al Malik) and Samir struggle with what new faith means to their music - as well as being Muslim in France - Regis starts to discover his voice as the vestiges of his criminal activity (and association with Mike and Pascal who have gotten in deeper) come back to haunt him.