PLOT
Andrew Neiman is a 19-year-old jazz drummer who, at the start of the film, is accepted into the Shaffer Conservatory, the best music school in the United States. He begins dating Nicole, a college student working at a cinema frequented by Andrew and his father. He aspires to become one of the drummer "greats", like Buddy Rich. With many of his classmates knowing that an infamous Shaffer conductor Terence Fletcher is looking for a new drum alternate, Neiman successfully auditions for Fletcher in a surprise in-class band session. While Fletcher at first seems courteous and nice to Andrew, it becomes clear that Fletcher is a master at manipulating emotions, as when he abuses and harasses several of the band's players. While practicing the Hank Levy song "Whiplash", Fletcher makes Andrew the target of his abuse and throws a chair at him for not following the tempo. He slaps and berates him in front of the class, who silently watch.

Determined to win over Fletcher, Andrew spends all of his spare time practicing and breaks up with Nicole, as he believes she would have left him anyway because his desire to be one of the greats will mean he cannot afford to give her the time she thinks she deserves, which he bluntly states to her. At a local Jazz competition, however, he is promoted to main drummer, after he misplaces the previous drummer's sheet music, performing "Whiplash" from memory. Andrew is sent back down to alternate when Ryan, the core drummer for his former class, replaces him. After angrily confronting him, Fletcher berates Andrew to earn the role as main drummer. After practicing vigorously for the next week, Andrew is shocked when Fletcher tearfully reveals in the next class session that a former student of his, Sean Casey, had died in a car accident the day previously, having been a "marvelous musician", according to Fletcher. Fletcher begins teaching the song "Caravan", and when all of the drummers have trouble keeping the tempo on the double-time swing he brutally auditions all three of them for several hours before finally giving it to Andrew.