 In a desperate attempt to comfort her own life, a mother (Margot Kidder) sends her troubled son Gunther (Daryl Sabara) to a mental hospital for Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). Once admitted, Gunther meets a doctor (Ed Lauter) whose unquestioned authority becomes challenged when a nurse (Margaret Travolta) allows her kind nature to interfere with her ability to follow hospital protocol. In an unstable environment, the line begins to blur between treatment and torture, sanity and madness, right and wrong. What happens when doing the right thing isn t good enough?