Ireland, 2007. As the economy teeters on the brink of a dramatic downturn, the lives of four workers at a software company are about to reach drastic turning points. Though the day begins like a usual Monday at work - another 8.5 hours on the clock - there are troubles brewing just below the surface. With the employees' lives seemingly disintegrating before their eyes, each desperate character will do whatever it takes to stay afloat, weaving a tangled web of blackmail, deception and scandal behind their professional facades.

Director Brian Lally presents an emotionally raw indictment of the shortsighted ambition that characterized Ireland's Celtic Tiger boom times. Sexually charged and laced with both subtle dark humor and truly shocking twists, the award-winning 8.5 Hours is an engrossing character study that examines how far office workers will go as their lives begin to unravel.