赖纳•文格尔（Jürgen Vogel 饰）是德国某所高中的老师，该学校正在进行“国家体制”的主题活动周。由于他最喜欢的“无政府主义”课被另一位老师捷足先登，因此他只能主讲“独裁统治”课程。
对于自由散漫的学生们来说，任何课程都只是为了学分而上。他们在课上大声聊天，无心听讲。文格尔别出心裁提出假想“独裁”的实验。在为期一周的实验中，文格尔被置于至高无上的地位，学生们对他要绝对服从。从最初的玩乐心态，这些青年男女渐渐沉湎这个名为“浪潮”的组织中，他们体会到集体和纪律的重要性，却在不知不觉中滑向了“独裁”与“纳粹”的深渊……
本片根据真实事件改编，并荣获2008年德国电影杰出剧情片和最佳男配角奖（Frederick Lau）。

To explain to his students the atmosphere in the 1930's Nazi-Germany, history teacher Burt Ross initiates a daring experiment. He declares himself leader of a new movement, called 'The Wave'. Inspired, he proclaims ideas about Power, Discipline and Superiority. His students are strikingly willing to follow him. Soon the entire school is under the spell of 'The Wave'. Anyone who refuses to be a part of the Movement, faces threats or worse. Ross himself gets carried away by his own experiment. Or has it turned into something more than an experiment? A climax is unavoidable, resulting in a hard lesson for both Ross and his students...