A neo-Nazi organization is recruiting in the 1980s, and two youths of high-school age join for similar reasons, despite class differences. Thomas is the son of a self-made industrialist father and a scolding social-climbing mother. He attends private school and has a brother who's an accomplished musician, but neither can satisfy mom's constant demands for school and social success. She belittles them, and there's incessant bickering at their table. Charly, a dropout, is the son of an abusive, alcoholic laborer. In the youth group, each finds order, respect, camaraderie, and adults who seem to value them. Where do domestic abuse and sanctioned political violence end?
Two female members of the Soviet military are supposed to kidnap the new American secret weapon at a disarmament conference. The highlight is the duel between Curd Jürgens and Lilli Palmer with vodka in a diplomatic back room. The stopover on the way to freedom is the editorial office of the large Warner publishing house in the USA. The film ends with a wedding in the context of international understanding.
A serial killer is on the run, after escaping a mental institution. He befriends a woman and her child, but the urge to strangle women with red necklaces still haunts him.