A young boy named Bruno and his family live an extremely wealthy life with Bruno's dad being a high ranked Nazi soldier. One day, Bruno comes home to find that his family is moving to "Out With" for hid dad's job. When they get there Bruno gets a little curious and goes on an adventure. On this adventure, Bruno finds a kid named Shmuel that is his age dressed in striped pajamas. Bruno sneaks off here for a long time not knowing what is actually going on on the other side of the fence. After a while, Bruno and Shmuel make a plan to find Shmuel's missing dad. They dig a hole under the fence and Bruno crawls under and then puts on striped clothing so he can blend in. When they go looking for his dad, they get caught up in a group which leads to a very dangerous place where they don't belong.