Woman At Point Zero tells the real-life story of psychiatrist Nawal El Saadawi’s encounter with Firdaus, a woman who is on death row for murder. Saadawi is keen to speak to Firdaus but is told by the prison doctor that Firdaus refuses to communicate with anyone, even declining to sign an appeal to the president that might have secured her release. The prison doctor is responsible for the appeal to save Firdaus, propelled by his belief that “so gentle a woman” could never be responsible for murder.

After Firdaus refuses to speak to her, Saadawi leaves the prison to return home. Firdaus's refusal to talk is a massive disappointment to Saadawi, as it compromises her research, but it also causes her to feel an overwhelming sense of self-doubt. Firdaus's disregard for authority leads Saadawi to believe that Firdaus is better than any person on the planet, including the president. As Saadawi finally admits defeat and leaves, she describes feeling the weight of Firdaus's rejection lifted from her. Just as she is about to drive away, the warden appears, announcing that Firdaus has finally consented to the interview.

Firdaus begins to tell Saadawi the story of her life. Growing up in rural poverty, Firdaus struggles to reconcile the behavior of her father, who viciously beats her mother, with the man who is so devoted to his Islamic faith. Firdaus also recalls happier memories of childhood, playing in the fields and feeding the goats. It is during childhood that she has her first sexual experience with a local boy, Mohammadain. The two play “bride and bridegroom,” and Firdaus experiences electrifying sexual pleasure. When she later questions her mother as to how she gave birth to her without a father, her mother beats her before ordering another woman to perform female genital mutilation on Firdaus.

Firdaus is no longer free to play in the fields after this and is confined to the indoors. It is during this time that Firdaus’s older uncle becomes sexually interested in her. As he touches Firdaus, she tries desperately to reach the heights of pleasure she reached before but realizes that “part of” her being is gone forever. Firdaus remains close to her uncle, who teaches her the alphabet and encourages her to read books. After her parents die, Firdaus goes to live with her uncle in Cairo, but he soon stops reading, abandons his traditional Islamic dress, and marries his teacher’s daughter. Firdaus’s uncle grows increasingly distant from her over time, and she is sent to a girls’ boarding school.

After Firdaus’s graduation, her uncle and aunt arrange a marriage between Firdaus and her aunt’s uncle, a sixty-year-old “virtuous” man called Sheikh Mahmoud. Firdaus is disgusted by Sheikh Mahmoud, who has a facial deformity that causes a sore on his chin to leak pus. Over time, Sheikh Mahmoud becomes emotionally and physically abusive toward Firdaus, and she feels forced to run away. While on the run she meets Bayoumi, the owner of a local coffee shop. Where Sheikh Mahmoud was cruel, Bayoumi is kind. Firdaus goes to live with him in his apartment, but when she admits to Bayoumi that she craves financial independence, he becomes violent, keeping her locked in his apartment and allowing his friends to repeatedly rape and abuse her. With the help of a female neighbor, Firdaus finally manages to escape to the city.

While she is on the run for the second time, a wealthy-looking woman named Sharifa Salah el Dine approaches Firdaus. Sharifa, a high-class prostitute, takes Firdaus under her wing and shows her how to assert ownership over who has...