The film opens with Andrew practicing the drums. We see him from a distance down a hallway at a conservatory. A man walks into the room and listens to him play. It's Fletcher, one of the prominent teachers at Shaffer.
The next day Fletcher invites Andrew into his core jazz band as an alternate. Once there, Andrew quickly learns that Fletcher demands greatness and uses brutality and physical violence to get what he wants. Fletcher throws a chair at Andrew and slaps him in order to get him to understand tempo.
Still, Andrew travels with the band to the first competition. Just before the band is about to go onstage the core drummer can’t find his music, as Andrew misplaced it. Because the core drummer can’t perform without it Andrew steps in and does well. For this Fletcher promotes him to core drummer.
Soon after, Fletcher brings in Ryan, another first-year student, to compete with Andrew for a spot as core drummer. Andrew is upset, as he knows he is far more talented than Ryan. Before the next competition, Fletcher has Andrew, Ryan, and another drummer compete for the core spot by making them play until they get the tempo he desires. Andrew wins the spot.
Andrew is late to the competition and must travel to get his drumsticks, which he forgot. On his way back to the competition, he gets into a bad car accident, but opts to continue on to the competition. Covered in blood and in a daze, he plays off-tempo in the competition, causing Fletcher to kick him out of the band. Andrew attacks Fletcher on stage and is promptly dismissed from Shaffer. Soon after, a lawyer who is representing a family whose child killed himself because of Fletcher offers Andrew the opportunity to testify against Fletcher. He agrees to do so anonymously.
One night, Andrew walks by a club where Fletcher is playing and decides to go in to listen. After the set, Fletcher invites him for a drink. Fletcher explains to Andrew that he only pushes students in order to make them great. After their drink, Fletcher invites Andrew to be the drummer in a jazz festival band he is conducting. Andrew agrees.
On the day of the festival, Fletcher tells Andrew that he knows that he testified against him and got him fired. As soon as the music begins, Andrew realizes that he doesn’t know the song and Fletcher is sabotaging him. Andrew walks offstage, but gets a wave of motivation and decides to go back on and begins to play "Caravan." He plays without Fletcher prompting him, and launches into an exceedingly impressive solo. Through his playing, Andrew wins Fletcher over and redeems himself.
