TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES

In war-torn Germany, a string of violent murders of young men and boys plagues a small town. The culprit is Fritz Haarman, a gay man with a history of petty crimes who works in the community as a government inspector. After carrying out the murders, Fritz butchers the bodies of his victims and he sells the meat to local restaurants and consumes it with his circle of unknowing friends, among them Luise, an aging proprietor of a local restaurant. Among the locals, Fritz has a reputation for exchanging money for sex with teenage boys.

While checking identification cards at a train station one night, Fritz encounters a teenage boy there alone, and without identification. Instead of taking him to the police, Fritz brings him to his home and seduces him. He subsequently kills and butchers him, and then dines on the meat with his fellow cannibals. Meanwhile, Fritz carries on a tempestuous relationship with his adult male lover, Hans, engaging in petty schemes to make money. Fritz's neighbor, Frau Linder, who lives in the apartment below him, is suspicious of Fritz, and takes note of odd noises she hears coming from his apartment in the middle of the night.

On one occasion, Fritz kidnaps and kills a young boy. Frau Linder witnesses him leaving the apartment in the middle of the night with several bundles of matter wrapped in parchment paper. She follows him as he disposes of the bundles in the Ruhr River. The next day, Fritz socializes with Dora, his friend, and approaches a teenage piano player in a restaurant. He asks the boy to visit him at his home later, which he obliges. There, Fritz strangles him to death before biting his neck and engaging in necrophilia with the body.

Hans and Dora subsequently arrive at Fritz's apartment, and are shocked to see the boy's body lying in Fritz's bed. Fritz assures Dora he is only sleeping, and asks her to leave. When she returns, the body has disappeared, Hans having helped conceal the crime. Meanwhile, Frau Linder continues to covertly spy on Fritz, and attempts to have police investigate. Hans subsequently ends his relationship with Fritz, leaving Fritz bereft. Meanwhile, Fritz continues to kidnap and murder young boys and men. Unbeknownst to him, Hans goes to police with his knowledge of Fritz's crimes. Police stage a raid on Fritz's apartment as he brings another teenage boy to his apartment. Just as he bites into the teenager's throat, police break into the apartment, alarmed by the young man's screams. Fritz is taken from the apartment in a rage.

Intertitles reveal that Fritz was executed for his crimes.

Haarmann is caught by police during an attempted murder, arrested, and later executed for his crimes.

The ending delivers clear resolution: the serial killer is finally brought to justice after his circle of trust unravels and his crimes are exposed. The film closes with the stark reality of justice in postwar Germany, underlining the horror that had hidden in plain sight and the repercussions for those complicit or blind to his actions.