Plot summary
A young gay man named Otto believes that he is a zombie and has hitched a ride to Berlin and begins to explore the city. Otto is discovered by underground filmmaker Medea Yarn, who begins to make a documentary about him with the support of her girlfriend, Hella Bent, and her brother Adolf. Medea is trying to finish Up with Dead People, the epic political-porno-zombie movie that she has been working on and convinces its star, Fritz Fritze, to allow the vulnerable Otto to stay in his guest bedroom. Otto discovers that he has a wallet that contains information about his past life, remembering details about his ex-boyfriend, Rudolf.
He arranges to meet him at the schoolyard where they met. It becomes clear that Otto is human, but dealing with schizophrenia- the soundtrack and visual background repeatedly feature discontinuous sounds and abrupt flashes of light. As Medea prepares to finish her film with a climactic gay zombie orgy, Otto is queerbashed. He makes his way back to Fritz' flat and the two of them make love. Medea finally ends her project with the fictionalised version of Otto burnt to non-existence. However, offscreen, Otto decides to leave Berlin and is last seen hitch-hiking out of the city.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Otto; or, Up with Dead People. Section headings and formatting adjusted.