Based on a true story, "North Face" is the gripping adventure drama about the competition to climb the Eiger, the most legendary and dangerous rock face in the Alps. In 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges German Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif, two reluctant climbers, Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) and Andi Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas), begin their daring ascent and attempt to scale the infamous rock face, often called the Murder Wall.
While preparing themselves at the foot of the North Face, Toni and Andi unexpectedly run into Luise (Johanna Wokalek), the early love of Toni. Now a journalist, she has come with her editor, Arau ("The Lives of Others" and "Seraphine's" Ulrich Tukur), a loyal Nazi, to report about the first ascent. Toni begins the climb of the North Face with Andi, closely followed by two Austrian daredevils, Willy Angerer (Simon Schwarz) and Edi Rainer (Georg Friedrich). Initially, both rope teams make good headway but when the climbers lose their advantage over the mountain, the survival race against time and the forces of nature begins.