Before he becomes known as the world-famous mime Marcel Marceau, aspiring Jewish actor Marcel Mangel (Eisenberg) joins the French Resistance during the war. He agrees to take part in a dangerous mission to save 123 Jewish orphans from the grasp of the Nazis and the ruthless Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (Schweighöfer) and take them to safety across the border to Switzerland.
The story of mime Marcel Marceau as he works with a group of Jewish boy scouts and the French Resistance to save the lives of ten thousand orphans during World War II.