Schrijver en regisseur J.J. Abrams creëerde een bovennatuurlijk verhaal over 6 kinderen die getuige zijn van iets ongelofelijks als ze het vastleggen op super 8-film.
Rebellious, quick-witted Erica Vandross is a 17-year-old firecracker living with her single mom, Laurie, and her mom's new boyfriend, Bob, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. When Bob's mentally unbalanced son, Luke, arrives from rehab to live with the family, Erica finds her domestic and personal life overwhelmed. With Luke and her sidekicks Kala and Claudine in tow, Erica acts out by exposing a high school teacher's dark secret.
In Mexican Revolution times, a guerrilla general and his troops take the conservative town of Cholula, near by Mexico City. As the revolutionaries mistreat the town's riches, General Reyes falls for beautiful and wild Beatriz Peñafiel, the daughter of one of the town's richest men.