Kale (Shia LaBeouf), the film's 17-year-old hero, is grieving for his father, who's been killed in a car accident. At school, he's bored and grumpy and when a teacher baits him over his lacklustre performance in class, he loses his temper and punches the man in the face. Subsequently convicted of assault, he's sentenced to 90 days under house arrest, which means he has to wear an ankle bracelet fitted with an alarm. If he strays more than 30 metres beyond his front door, the alarm sounds, the police arrive and extra penalties are incurred.
So there you have it: a modern variation on James Stewart's predicament in Rear Window. Being housebound turns Kale into a voyeur, who becomes increasingly fixated on the comings and goings in the suburban street outside his window, and soon he's recording them with his video camera. He also finds his Grace Kelly in Ashley (Sarah Roemer), the pretty girl who has just moved next door. And while Kale's best friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), is no Thelma Ritter, he does have a sense of humour. It's he who reluctantly consents to doing some of the legwork when he and Kale persuade themselves that Mr Turner (David Morse), the man across the street, is a serial killer.
