| Director | Brian Taylor |
|---|---|
| Genre | horror film, thriller film |
| Runtime | 86 min |
| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $286,313 |
Static plays on a car's infotainment system. A mother in a suburban town puts on music for her child as she parks her car on railroad tracks and leaves the child in the car to die.
The Ryans are a family of four with a strained relationship. Brent, the father, does not approve of his daughter Carly's new boyfriend Damon. He is also going through a slight mid-life crisis as he has apparently been working on a muscle car in the garage. Carly considers her mother Kendall out of touch, fights with her younger brother Joshua, and is currently upset about canceling plans with her boyfriend because her grandparents are coming to visit. Kendall is trying to find hobbies that occupy her time such as taking fitness classes. She is also anticipating the delivery of her sister's new baby.
While Carly is at school, radios and TV screens start transmitting unexplained static. The effect is seen as the Ryans' housekeeper murders her own daughter in front of a terrified Joshua. Meanwhile, a mob of parents rushes to Carly's school to kill their children. When the students see one classmate being stabbed by his mother with her car keys after he scales a fence to reach her, the students scatterthough many die at the hands of their parents.
Carly escapes with her friend Riley. They reach Riley's house, where Carly watches television reports of the mass hysteria, implying that the static is compelling parents across the U.S to slaughter their children; Dr. Oz is interviewed, telling people how it compares to savaging in pig populations. Upstairs, Riley's mother strangles her. Carly runs home in terror and finds Damon, whose father earlier tried to kill him with a broken bottle but accidentally cut his own throat. Damon accompanies Carly into the house to get Joshua somewhere safe.
Kendall goes to the hospital where her sister Jeannie is giving birth, and static is seen on a delivery room monitor, immediately followed by Jeannie attempting to kill her newborn daughter. Kendall tries to save the baby, escaping the hospital and heading home.
Seeing Carly at home with Damon, the hysteria overtakes Brent and he knocks Damon out and attacks Carly. Kendall joins him when she gets home. Carly and Joshua lock themselves in the basement and Kendall uses a Sawzall to get through the door. Brent digs out a case from under his bed but finds his gun is missing. Joshua pulls out Brent's gun and fires through the door, wounding his mother. Kendall and Brent, bonding over their shared filicidal desire, run a hose from their oven's natural gas line to the basement to poison the kids. Carly apparently notices the gas, so she rigs up a trap with matches at the door and hides with Joshua in the ventilation system. Brent cuts the lock off and opens the door, igniting the gas and triggering an explosion that knocks both parents out, just as Damon awakens.
Damon helps Carly and Joshua evade their parents, but Kendall awakens and knocks Damon out again. As the parents close in on their kids, the doorbell rings. When Brent opens the door, his own filicidal parentsMel and Barbaratry to kill him. Everyone chases one another through the house: Joshua evades Brent by trying to hide from him in the garage; Kendall chases Carly and hits her on the head before her mother-in-law knocks her out.
As Brent tries to get Joshua out of the car, Joshua manages to start the car, and, in the struggle, Brent puts it in gear, eventually crashing it through the garage door, killing his parents and knocking himself out. Kendall prepares to finish Carly off, but Damon knocks her out with a shovel.
Kendall and Brent wake up to find themselves restrained in the basement with Carly, Joshua, and Damon watching them. They continue to exhibit symptoms of the hysteria, and the kids refuse to let them go. Kendall tearfully tells the children she loves them, and the film ends mid-sentence of Brent stating: "But sometimes we just want to—".