Trama

Encouraged by his quirky grandfather, a young boy faces his fears at summer camp.

At a Christian youth camp, kids learn to confront their fears and not seek revenge as a solution. Two brothers separate into different houses and after a series of pranks realize they need each other. In the finale all the teams compete against one another, pitting the underdogs against the stronger kids. The focus on victory and dominance over peaceful coexistence and forgiveness in the final moments of the film tends to negate the attempt at moral guidance.

Two brothers go to the same summer camp. The older brother, Zach, is good at everything. The younger brother, Spence, is afraid of everything. While Zach joins a team of other guys who are big and strong, Spence gets welcomed into a unique group of the "smallest" guys at camp, the "Armadillos".

One girl at camp, Jen, seems to be genuinely interested in being friends with Spence. Spence has a particular fear of swimming in the lake. He imagines large creatures under the water at various times in the film. He is not able to pass the swim test on the first day, so he has to stay in the "pen" if he wants to go in the lake. His teammates are willing to hang out in the "pen" with him even though they clearly did not want to be relegated to that part of the lake. They try to encourage him to get in with him, but he sits on the side of the lake. Jen tries to encourage him to jump in, but doesn't try to push him. He says he wants to go home but is convinced by a camp counselor to stay.

The bigger, stronger team is led by a bully named Dean. He makes it clear that he really likes a girl named Rosemary. Rosemary seems interested in getting to know Zach. He is clearly nervous around her.

Led by Dean, the stronger team picks on the Armadillos mercilessly because they know there will be no consequences. Some of the pranks they pull are cruel in a sort of "kick them while they're down" way. For example, hanging them up by their underpants when they are still sore and bruised from being badly beaten in paintball. They also put garbage in their beds, put itch bombs in their bed another night, and other typical bullying type things.

Zach is not part of all of the pranks, sometimes finding out afterwards, but he is there to hang them up by their underpants, and leaves them there. It seems like after that, he starts to feel bad and tries to talk Dean out of doing anything else. Dean lashes out, and also tells Zach to stay away from Rosemary, which he agrees to do.

Zach finally tries to apologize to Spence about the wedgies, and explains that he didn't know about the itch bomb and didn't want them to do that. Spence is pretty upset and not interested in forgiving his brother. Zach tells Spence to stop being a victim.

The armadillos finally decide instead of "being victims" they want to get revenge. They give the older boys brownies "from Rosemary" with a special recipe that works like a laxative. Afterwards, they discover that acting out of spite, fear, deceit and revenge might not be as "sweet" as they had hoped. The

Jen is disappointed in Spence for stooping to their level, and he responds by snapping at her so that he pushes her away.

Throughout the film, a camp counselor tries to help Spence understand that everyone is afraid of something, and what matters is how you respond to fear. He also tells Spence that the bullies are acting that way because they really are scared of being losers deep down, and so they are trying to prove that they are not losers by showing off and putting others down. The armadillos get in trouble for their prank, since it was obvious that they did it. They also confess and suffer negative consequences. It seems like Spence realizes that he needs to turn to God with his frustration and fear.

The brothers each read a letter from their mom talking about similar things, and reminding them about particular aspects of the character of their dad, who had recently passed away. When Zach gets back to his bungalow, Dean accuses him of hanging out with Rosemary. When he says he was reading a letter from his mom, Dean makes fun of him, and Zach calls Dean a jerk. Dean accuses him of telling Rosemary that he is a jerk, even though the reverse is actually true. So Zach leaves their team. The brothers are reconciled, and Zach asks to join their team to compete together in the games at the end of the camp.

Some of the campers learn that acting out of spite, fear, or revenge, will never be as satisfying as working as a team, competing fairly, uplifting the unique gifts of your teammates, putting the safety of others before winning, and ultimately, trusting in God instead of being afraid.