When two teenage boys spying on a beautiful neighbor witness her brutal murder by a rising local politician, their attempt to expose the crime through blackmail spirals into a deadly game that puts their families—and their own lives—at risk.

SYNOPSIS:

Fifteen-year-old JEREMY BARKER is quiet, withdrawn, and largely invisible in his own home. His mother MICHELE, stretched thin by her teaching job and a baby daughter, hopes the arrival of ADAM, a confident and charismatic new kid in town, will finally draw Jeremy out of his shell. Jeremy’s father JOE, disengaged and glued to the television, offers little guidance.

Adam does draw Jeremy out—by introducing him to a secret, dangerous hobby: spying on RAMONA, a beautiful young woman who lives alone in a condo beyond the woods behind Jeremy’s suburban home. Masked and careful, the boys sneak out at night, convincing themselves it’s harmless curiosity.

One night, their voyeurism turns horrific. As they watch from the darkness, Ramona’s sensual shower is interrupted by BIG ED TIMLIN, a well-known businessman and candidate for County Commission. The boys witness Timlin brutally murder her. As they flee, Ed nearly catches Jeremy, burning the moment—and Ramona’s lifeless body—into his memory.

Shaken and guilt-ridden, Jeremy is desperate to tell someone. Adam, disturbingly unfazed, insists they imagined it—or that “this kind of stuff happens all the time.” When no murder appears on the news, Adam convinces Jeremy that Ramona must still be alive.

Unable to live with the uncertainty, Jeremy returns alone to the window. Ramona is still there. She is still dead.

Determined to act without exposing their own crime, Jeremy anonymously tips off the police by leaving a note in Ramona’s mailbox. Detectives BARNES and HITCH, a bickering but effective pair, begin investigating just as Timlin’s once-solid election campaign begins to wobble.

Recognizing leverage where Jeremy sees danger, Adam escalates. After surviving a veiled threat from Timlin’s handyman, Adam sends the candidate a blackmail message demanding $10,000 to keep “his secret sin” buried. Timlin responds cruelly—leaving a vicious guard dog in place of the cash. Furious, Adam retaliates publicly, spray-painting “A KILLER LIVES HERE” across Timlin’s home.

As Election Day approaches, Timlin is questioned by police, released, and quietly tailed. His campaign collapses. Paranoia and rage consume him.

Then Adam disappears.

With Michele out voting and Joe away, Timlin—drunk, desperate, and armed—breaks into the Barker home. Holding Jeremy and his infant sister at gunpoint, Timlin demands Adam. He wants revenge.

Jeremy is alone—until a desperate act reconnects him with Adam, tipping off Barnes and Hitch just in time. In the violent reckoning that follows, Timlin’s ambition, cruelty, and arrogance finally destroy him.

What began as a stolen glance ends in exposure, bloodshed, and the hard, irreversible cost of choosing action over silence.

PEEP