Whiplash

19-year-old jazz drummer Andrew Neiman attends the prestigious fictional Shaffer Conservatory in New York City, hoping to leave a legacy like that of his idol Buddy Rich. Terence Fletcher, the conductor of the most prestigious ensemble in Shaffer, overhears Andrew practicing and prompts him to play rudiments and a double-time swing beat. Unimpressed by Andrew's performance, Fletcher leaves, but later recruits Andrew to perform in his ensemble as a backup for core drummer Carl Tanner.

Though Fletcher is encouraging at first, Andrew soon discovers that he is relentlessly strict and abuses his students both verbally and physically. When Andrew apparently fails to keep tempo on Hank Levy's "Whiplash" during his first ensemble rehearsal, Fletcher throws a chair at him, repeatedly slaps his face, and berates him. Determined to impress Fletcher, Andrew excessively practices, often until his hands blister and bleed. In the meantime, he becomes romantically involved with a young woman named Nicole.

After their first set at a jazz competition, Andrew misplaces Tanner's sheet music. Tanner cannot play without the sheets, but Andrew claims he can. Fletcher allows Andrew to perform "Whiplash" from memory, resulting in Shaffer winning the competition. Fletcher promotes Andrew to core drummer, but later abruptly reassigns the position to Ryan Connolly, a drummer from a lower-level ensemble within Shaffer.

Because of his single-mindedness toward music, Andrew clashes with his family and breaks up with Nicole to focus on his ambitions. One day, Fletcher begins rehearsal by announcing that Sean Casey, a former member of the Studio Band, has died in a car accident. He then pushes the three drummers to play at a faster tempo on "Caravan", keeping them for a grueling five-hour practice. Being the only one able to perform on-tempo, Andrew earns the core position back.

On the way to the next competition, Andrew's bus gets a flat tire. He rents a car, but arrives late and forgets his drumsticks at the rental office. Andrew races back and retrieves them, but his car is hit by a truck on the way back. Heavily injured, Andrew crawls from the wreckage and runs to the theater, arriving bloodied and weak just as the ensemble enters the stage. He struggles to keep tempo and Fletcher halts the performance to dismiss him from the band. Enraged, Andrew attacks Fletcher onstage and is subsequently expelled from Shaffer.

At the request of his father, Andrew meets a lawyer representing Sean's parents. They explain that instead of dying in a car accident, Sean had actually hanged himself after suffering from depression and anxiety inflicted by Fletcher's abuse, for which Sean's parents want Fletcher held accountable. Andrew reluctantly agrees to anonymously testify against Fletcher, leading Shaffer to terminate him.

Andrew abandons drumming. Months later, he encounters Fletcher playing piano at a jazz club. The two have drinks together, during which Fletcher admits his teaching methods were harsh but insists they were necessary to motivate his students. He cites a story where Jo Jones allegedly threw a cymbal at Charlie Parker, claiming that the next jazz musician to live up to Parker's legacy would never let themselves be discouraged. Fletcher invites Andrew to perform with his professional band at a New York JVC Jazz Festival, playing the same pieces from the Shaffer Studio Band; Andrew accepts. Andrew calls Nicole to invite her to the performance, but learns she has a new boyfriend.

At the festival, Fletcher tells Andrew he knows Andrew testified against him. Fletcher vengefully leads the band into a new song that Andrew does not know and does not have sheet music for. After a disastrous performance, a humiliated Andrew walks offstage. After his father embraces him, Andrew decides to return to the stage, reclaiming the drum kit and cutting off Fletcher's introduction to the next song by cueing the band into "Caravan". Initially angered, Fletcher resumes conducting. As the piece finishes, Andrew continues into an unexpected improvised solo. Impressed, Fletcher nods in approval before cueing the final chord.