The film examines the case of artist and professor Steve Kurtz, a member of the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). The work of Kurtz and other CAE members dealt with genetically modified food and other issues of science and public policy. After his wife, Hope, died of heart failure, paramedics arrived and became suspicious when they noticed petri dishes and other scientific equipment related to Kurtz's art in his home. They summoned the FBI, who detained Kurtz within hours on suspicion of bioterrorism.

The routines of four roomates and their landlord are unexpectedly interrupted by the news of an alleged bioterrorist attack in their city. Ona, a webcast diva with her own show, thinks the feds are staging this attack to shift into a fullblown police state. Her roomies think she's paranoid. During a 48-hour citywide bio-hazard lockdown, they are all forced to come to their own conclusions about what is happening during their current state of escalating uncertainty.