A young man in 1981 South Africa must complete his brutal and racist two years of compulsory military service while desperately maintaining the secrecy of his homosexuality.

Nicholas has long known he is different, that something shameful and unacceptable in him must stay hidden and denied. But South Africa's minority government are embroiled in conflict at the Angolan border and all white young men over 16 must serve two years of compulsory military service to defend the Apartheid regime and its culture of toxic racist machismo. The 'black danger' is the real and present threat; what is wrong with Nicholas and others like him can be rooted out, treated, and cured like cancer. But just when fear pushes Nicholas to accept unspeakable horrors in the hopes of staying invisible, a tender relationship with another recruit becomes as dangerous for them both as any enemy fire.

Based on André Carl van der Merwe's book, Moffie (a derogatory Afrikaans term for a gay man) follows the story of Nicholas van der Swart: from a very young age, he realizes he is different. Try as he might, he cannot live up to the macho image expected of him by his family, by his heritage. At 19 he is conscripted into the South African army and finds his every sensibility offended by a system close to its demise, yet still in full force. Set during the South African border war against communism, this is a long-overdue story about the emotional and physical suffering endured by countless young men.—AnonymusB