In December 2005, Oregon-based activist Daniel McGowan was arrested by federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)—a group the FBI has called America’s "number one domestic terrorism threat." For years, the ELF had launched spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they accused of destroying the environment. The remarkable story of the rise and fall of this ELF cell focuses on the transformation and radicalization of one of its members. Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thriller, the film interweaves a vérité chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group. And along the way it asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.