Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) is a hospice caregiver living in New Orleans. She still feels guilty for letting her father die alone. She feels that the xxx is just a money factory and sets out to find someone that she can really take care of at the ending g time of his/her life.
An opportunity arises in an old mansion located in the swamps of Louisiana. There Mr. Ben Devereaux (John Hurt) has had a stroke and only a few months to live. Mrs. Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands) does not want Caroline to be there but is convinced by her estate lawyer to keep Caroline on.
Soon Caroline is given a skeleton key that opens every door in the house. However she finds that a hidden door in the attic does not open. Ben had his debilitating stroke in the attic and Violet seems suspicious so Caroline turns to the estate lawyer Luke (Peter Sarsgaard) with her suspicions.
Will Caroline be a good girl and just leave Ben while he is dying?
Will Caroline get to nosy for her own good and try to open the hidden door?
Are Caroline's suspicions founded or is she just being melodramatic?
This movie is just jam packed with great actors. After you get over how Kate Hudson looks like her mother and her miraculous recovery from her recent pregnancy, you realize that you are watching the movie and the character of Caroline. And hoe did John Hurt make it through the whole movie and you did not notes that he did not say anything except a one liner" Ca-ro-Line! Help me!"? We get our first ominous warning from Jill (Joy Bryant) whose character gives the original feel of normalcy to the story. The whole film is glued together and hinges on the character of Violet played to the hilt by Gena Rowlands.
If you like this maybe it is and maybe it isn't type of story then you need to watch a movie based on "Conjure Wife" by Fritz Leiber. His story has the same feel "Night of The Eagle, aka Burn Witch Burn" (1962) with Peter Wyngarde as Norman, and Janet Bliar as Tansy.
