George Washington University professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) teaches a course in terrorism, but after his wife, an FBI agent, is killed under questionable circumstances, he becomes obsessed with the topic. An all-American family moves in across the street, but Faraday soon suspects that they might be terrorists themselves. Bridges's portrayal of the man fighting against a virtually unseen enemy, with no one believing him, is reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.