Shawnie is the story of the Brewer family - Ma Lisa, brother Jason and daughter Shawnie, plus Lisa's so-called lover Steve. Over the course of an intense summer, they each tell their own off-kilter version of events. Shawnie, just 13, dreams of a normal life: a lock on the bathroom door, clean clothes for school and no wild parties with her Ma as the star turn. A 'diamond of a girl', she tries to keep the family in order. But prostitution, drink and violence are eating away at them all, leading towards a horror that's almost too much to bear.