IN AWE is a dark psychological thriller about three misfits, social outcasts banded together in their conformist, small-town environment. This unlikely trio include Sarah, 32, a convenience store clerk whose sexual openness has labeled her the "town slut"; Boris, 17, an awkward resident in the local juvenile detention center where Sarah once lived; and Harriet, 62, a frail, eccentric woman whose son Marshall--Sarah's best friend--has recently died. This unusual gang is united by their love for one another, their relative freakishness in town, and their rich fantasy lives: Harriet grapples with the reality of her son's death while Sarah dreams of starring in the B-horror films she loves and Boris dreams of Rex, the brooding redneck classmate who is the center in a lethal pack of local boys.

But these fantasy lives are increasingly drawn into the real, potentially dangerous world around them. Two local college girls are reported missing. Sarah and Boris rescue what turns out to be a mutilated mannequin--encoded with a cryptic message--from the river. Sarah's car is defaced with hateful graffiti addressed to each of them. And now someone is taking pictures and spying in the bushes outside Sarah's and Harriet's isolated homes. When the missing students are found raped and murdered outside of town, Sarah's role within her horror fantasy becomes all too real, now threatening to include those she loves.