1979年,冷戰高峰期,身在東德的岡特(大衛克勞斯 飾演)和彼得(弗萊德里奇穆克 飾演)為了追求自由,用超過兩年時間籌畫一場「驚天大逃亡」──他們利用有限資源,自製一個巨大的熱氣球,並打算用它載著家人逃往西德。不料,就在即將越過邊境之時,熱氣球卻意外墜毀,並引來東德秘密警察鋪天蓋地的調查。在緊迫的時間與嚴密的偵查之下,他們拼命著手打造另一個新的熱氣球。同時,秘密警察也逐漸鎖定他們,一場分秒必爭的絕命逃亡就此展開…。
"Kruso" tells of the last summer before the Wall came down on the small island of Hiddensee in the Baltic Sea. Beyond state-organized tourism, the isolated island became a kind of artist colony every year and a place of longing for dropouts and alternatives. Due to its proximity to Denmark, Hiddensee was also the starting point for the flight across the Baltic Sea.
1978. In a desperate act of love, a plane is hijacked in East Germany and forced to land in the American Sector of West Berlin, triggering a Cold War crisis and forcing 60 hapless passengers to decide in minutes whether to give up everything and stay in the West...