In 1931, budding author Christopher Isherwood goes to Berlin at the invitation of his friend W. H. Auden for the gay sex that abounds in the city. He work as an English teacher and his housemates include bewigged old queen Gerald Hamilton and would-be actress Jean Ross, who sings tunelessly in a seedy cabaret club. They and others he meets get put into his stories. After a fling with sexy rent boy Caspar, he falls for street sweeper Heinz and pays his sickly mother’s medical bills—to the disapproval of her other son, Nazi Gerhardt. With Fascism rapidly rising, Christopher returns to London with Heinz but can’t prevent his return to Germany when his visa expires. Years later, successful author Christopher returns to Berlin for a final meeting with Heinz, who is now married with children.