Starring Shia LaBeouf, Carrie-Anne Moss, and David Morse. Rated 14A.

It's not uncommon for teenage boys, even rather nice ones, to get grounded. It's a much rarer thing for the punishment to be delivered via electronic monitoring. Such is the fate of Kale (Shia LaBeouf), a lad whose pleasant suburban life has taken a turn for the truculent since the death of his father. Now he has punched a teacher and is flirting with a criminal record. Kale's fed-up mom (Carrie-Anne Moss) has cut off his iTunes and Xbox Live subscriptions for additional punishment. Kale's sole recreation is hanging out with his slightly weird and giddy school bud Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) and his maddeningly hot new neighbour, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). Although eating vast quantities of peanut butter and making sculptures out of Twinkies is temporarily diverting, the kids soon find themselves more interested in their neighbour. Mr. Turner (David Morse) seems like a nice enough fellow, blandly pleasant, a bit obsessed with his lawn. But what are those scratches on his car? Why was a car of that description observed at the scene of an abduction? And—ugh—what's that heavy, sloshing stuff he's carting around in plastic bags?

Disturbia, then, is a thriller about voyeurs and their dabblings in detective work. It's not an innovative concept by any means, but, as with roller coasters, you want your cinematic thrill rides to be carefully constructed of well-tested parts. Like a coaster, the movie takes its time getting going. Director D.J. Caruso helps the film establish its reality by making Kale far more interested in action involving Ashley than with a serial killer. Unlike the similarly themed Perfect Stranger, Disturbia has likable, plausible characters who have good chemistry together. They don't seem like superheroes or even cutesy smart-asses. They're just three friends you'd like to see get through the summer without winding up in any plastic bags. However, Mr. Turner may have other ideas. Which is just as well: if you're not afraid of the roller coaster, why get on? It might not be a novel ride, particularly long, or wildly twisty, but it does make the screams come, eventually.