East-Germany, 1984: Frank Korbach is looking forward to attending drama school, while his rebellious best friend Thomas is refusing to do military service. Together with the adventurous but naive Alex, Thomas plans to make a desperate attempt to escape to the West. Knowing that he might never see them again, Frank accompanies Thomas and Alex to the frontier. Suddenly, they are confronted by a special unit of the Stasi, the East German secret police. Although the boys manage to avoid capture, Frank's old life is gone forever - he has now become a fugitive. Frank's father Kurt Korbach is stunned by the escape. Unknown to his son, Kurt is a Major in the Stasi. Convinced that Frank is innocent, he persuades his superiors that he alone can bring his son back. Together with the suspicious Colonel Frey - a time bomb waiting to explode - Kurt sets off to track down the runaway boys.