A troubled teenager arrives at a prestigious military academy and clashes with a brutal system of hazing that changes him and the academy for years to come. 

SYNOPSIS:

Tricked by his father into attending a military academy, Sergio Mendez, 17, finds out there is no way out about two seconds too late, and he is suddenly surrounded by uniformed officers yelling at his face. He tries to escape later that day but the academy is sealed tight and he has to plot a real escape later at a better time. As the days go by, Sergio makes friends with other students in a similar situation as his - troubled teens one misstep away from juvenile detention after being expelled from other schools.

Fort Wayne is a military academy with a long tradition of raising military officers dating back to the American civil war, but hazing rituals and secret societies have plagued the ranks of the cadets in recent years. Physical and emotional abuse is common at the academy, resulting in a psychological war between the new cadets called 'plebes' and older cadets who are also officers and have earned their privilege by surviving the first year at the academy. A gauntlet is set up by older class men at the end of boot camp training for plebes, and it devolves into an all out brawl after Segio and his friends get wind of the plans for it in the middle of the night. This sets him up for an incensed opposition against all authority at the academy.

Sergio has his own demons to battle with, like the physical and emotional abuse heaped on him by his father since he was a child, including beating his mother in front of him, as shown in flashback scenes. Burned in his memory is the time he stepped in to defend his mother from his father's aggressions and threatened to kill him. He never made good on that promise, and the lingering expectation of revenge that never came primed the pump for Sergio to be ready to go against anyone at any time, making him a walking powder keg ready to explode. He takes on other plebes, upperclassmen, officers, and pretty much anyone who crosses him, and eventually becomes feared amongst cadets, not because of the pain he could inflict, but because of the insults, the aggression, and his ability to pull everyone into the conflict and bringing about chaos.

Sergio's nemesis is an African-american cadet officer, Lieutenant White, a graduating senior proud of his accomplishment of making it to the last year, ready to dish out retribution from what he went through in years past. But one hazing incident against a plebe turns everyone in the platoon against him and Sergio bows revenge. A blanket party is planned for Lt White in the middle of the night, but an officer finds out about the plan and stages a setup for the plebes. The set up goes as planned but the plebes stand their ground and fight instead, pitting thirty plebes against an equal number of upperclassmen and officers. The resulting brawl puts many in the hospital and Lt. White is taken away in an ambulance in critical condition. The powder keg blew. An investigation follows, Sergio and seven of his friends are court martialed and expelled from the academy.

Sergio is elated to have escaped that prison and returns home to confront his father where another battle ensues. But while Sergio is planning another life ahead of him, other parents of the cadets involved in the brawl complain to the academy for the treatment of their sons and some decide to take legal action. The local news media gets a hold of the story and suddenly it is all over the news. Weeks go by and in a very public reversal, the academy rescinds the expulsions and allows all the cadets back on probation, Sergio included. He is sent back to hell. Returning to the academy is the hardest decision he has to make in his young life. His mother is depressed and never leaves her apartment, he hates his father and is plotting to kill him, but he is also threatened to be turned into juvenile supervision if he doesn't return to the academy. He returns to the academy, his friends are equally defeated and all of them decide to try to finish out the year. Sergio lingers as he slips into a depression, drinking and taking large amounts of drugs and eventually becomes suicidal. After months of struggling with this troubled student, the academy's top brass decides to transfer him to another school, quietly, with his father's consent, before things end up worse. Sergio finally earns his freedom, but at an extremely high price. He celebrates with his friends in the last scene.