Based on a true incident that occured in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, 1969. The powerful forces of group pressure that pervaded many historic movements such as Nazism are recreated in the classroom when history teacher Burt Ross introduces a "new" system to his students as they study Germany during World War II. Before long "The Wave, " with its rules of "strength through discipline, community and action, " sweeps from the classroom throughout the entire school. As most of the students join the movement, some recognize the frightening momentum of "The Wave" and realize they must stop it before it's too late. In probing the underpinnings of fascism, "The Wave" is far from a social-studies lesson. Director Dennis Gansel fashions an energetic, gripping drama that cuts through superficial ideological interrogatives and goes straight for the veins--the human psychologies and individual behaviors that contribute to collective movements. In unpeeling the emotional layers and contradictions of his characters (the need to belong, to be empowered, to escape social distinctions), Gansel offers a humanistic perspective on the terrifying irony that these students may welcome the very things they denounce.