The first half of the drama is a story of hubris: how the Irish establishment ignored the warning signs from abroad, and from its own Cassandras, and failed to rein in the property market and the wider economy. The second half of the drama shows the key players in the establishment as they struggle to come to terms with the unfolding of the consequences of their earlier hubris, during the month of September 2008, as the global banking system buckled and the Irish economy faced collapse.

At the heart of the drama are the figures of the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Central Banker, Officials in the Department of Finance and the heads of the key banks. Elsewhere, the character of a Hedge Fund Manager in London brings an external viewpoint on events. Other characters come and go, but these are the key decision makers. The film moves quickly between locations, moving ever quicker towards the night itself, as it charts the end of the boom and the onset of the global financial crisis.