Swing Kids

In Hamburg, 1939, Peter Müller, Thomas Berger join their friends Arvid and Otto at the swing club Bismarck, where they dance and revel in the music. The club becomes a temporary escape from the tightening grip of the regime as they bond over Swing.

Peter arrives to find his mother arguing with the Nazi Blockleiter, a menacing sign of the regime's reach into everyday life. The confrontation sows fear and hints at the sacrifices required to survive under the Nazis.

Herr Knopp, head of the local Gestapo, dismisses the Blockleiter and begins questioning Frau Müller about her late husband's friends. He explains that Peter’s father had been accused of communism, and that interrogations had harmed his health, illustrating the regime’s systemic pressure.

At Arvid’s house, Thomas accidentally ruins one of Arvid's prized records, provoking a bitter argument. Arvid kicks Peter and Thomas out, severing their friendship and setting the stage for a misguided apology.

To apologize, Peter and Thomas steal a radio from a bakery, a radio Peter knows was taken from a ransacked Jewish home. Thomas escapes, but Peter is caught; Herr Knopp intercedes and forces Peter to enroll in the Hitlerjugend, with Thomas joining soon after.

Arvid is confronted on the street by a group of Hitler Youth, including former friend Emil, who beat him and break his hand. The assault shatters his ability to perform as a jazz musician and deepens the club’s cultural crackdown.

Peter, who has a job delivering books, is asked to spy on his boss, a clear sign of the Reich’s surveillance state. The assignment marks the beginning of everyday life governed by suspicion and loyalty tests.

In Hitlerjugend school, the boys are encouraged to spy on their friends and families, eroding trust and normal childhood bonds. The environment pressures them to betray confidences for the regime's approval.

Thomas accuses his father of insulting Hitler, and soon Nazis come to their home and take his father away. The incident deepens the rift between Peter and Thomas and pushes both toward very different paths.

Arvid recovers his ability to play but refuses to perform a German song, openly challenging the Nazi agenda. Peter feels sympathy for his friend, while Thomas doubles down on the Nazi stance, driving a wedge between them and accelerating Arvid’s isolation.

As Thomas’s ideology grows, Peter feels there is little hope left in Germany. He dresses to attend a swing club that is about to be raided by the Hitler Youth, seeking a last moment of freedom before force closes in.

During the raid, Thomas attacks the club’s patrons as Peter tries to reach him. Peter refuses to run and is taken away by the police as Willi shouts Swing Heil!, a defiant last echo of his brother’s defiance.

An epilogue reveals that a second generation of Swing Kids lived to see the Nazis defeated, underscoring the enduring hope and resilience of those who refused to surrender to tyranny.