Shut-Eye is a hard-hitting contemporary character study of family dysfunctionalism, crime and violence played out in the Chicago underworld, using the final weeks of the 2004 presidential election as a backdrop. Like far too many hard working American couples, Ed and Kim are barely making their rent each month. Ed, a police detective estranged from the force, is reduced to working security for Mafia strip clubs while Kim manages a neighborhood video store. The unending financial strain combined with the recent death of their child has brought them both to the breaking point. When members of their close family steal some cash-filled strong boxes that Ed is paid to protect, the extended family of relatives, friends and mobsters react with deadly unpredictability. As all social laws and order disappear, Shut-Eye asks us to find our own way out. John Covert is from Lake County, and all four of his features have been filmed at least partially in Lake County. Shut-Eye stars Allie Smith (Cup of My Blood), Jennifer Kern (Prison Break) and Stana Katic (The Shield, 24, Heroes, Feast of Love).