Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch), a dedicated sports and math teacher, starts her first job at a high school. She stands out among the new staff because of her idealism. When a series of thefts occur at the school and one of her students is suspected, she decides to get to the bottom of the matter on her own. Carla tries to mediate between outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students, but is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system. The more desperately she tries to do everything right, the more the young teacher threatens to break.

The Teachers' Lounge is a study in power dynamics, with themes of truth, justice, racism, respect, and children’s rights that demonstrate how individuals are worn down between entrenched positions.