Claire Spencer (Michelle Pfeiffer) enters a new phase of her life after a serious car accident leaves gaps in her memory. She is married to the renowned scientist Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford). Shortly after arriving in a new lakeside house in Vermont that once belonged to Norman's scientist father, her daughter Caitlin leaves home to go away to college. One day when Claire is working in the garden she hears loud sobbing coming from over the fence. It turns out to be her neighbor, Mary Feur (Miranda Otto). She seems terrified and Claire is very concerned, thinking that her husband is beating her. Norman tells her not to worry. Claire wakes in the middle of the night, and looks out of the window. She sees Mary's husband Warren (James Remar) dragging what looks like a body bag out into the boot of his car. By the time Claire had woken Norman, there was nothing left to see.
The next day, Claire decides to investigate by taking a basket of flowers and wine to the house as a "Welcome Gift". After nobody answers the door she walks round the side of the house and makes a startling discovery; a woman's sandal with a dark stain on it... She collects the sandal, and returns to the front door to leave the basket there. Warren returns as she is leaving the basket, and Claire explains why she was there and asks where Mary is. Warren gives a vague answer which leaves Claire even more worried.
Mysterious events begin to happen in Claire's house when Norman is not there - a picture falling off the window sill, doors opening and closing themselves and the computer screen typing 'MEF MEF MEF' (Mary E Feur). Throughout the film a framed newspaper clipping of Claire and Norman at an awards ceremony keeps mysteriously falling off tables and the glass breaks. At one point, Claire is running a bath and as she looks into the water she sees a second reflection over her shoulder. Claire then believes that Mary is dead, and is now haunting her. This prompts her to visit her husband at work in his lab. She chats to one of the scientists who explains the drug halothane which they are usi
ng in the lab. It paralyzes but leaves the victim completely conscious. Norman, of course, thinks that Claire is feeling a bit empty since Caitlin is at university and this is just an excuse to grab attention. Desperate for closure, Claire invites her best friend Jody to join her for a séance in her bathroom where she had seen the reflection of Mary. Claire produces the sandal she had earlier taken from Mary's house, and places it on the table. The Ouija board does not move, but a candle starts to flicker, then goes out. The dial on the Ouija board then starts to move slowly from M to F. Nothing else happens, so Claire and Jody break the Ouija circle and Claire puts the Ouija board in a cupboard downstairs under some sweaters, and asks Jody not to tell Norman about the séance which Jody dutifully does not.
Claire returns to Norman's workplace, where she informs Norman of what she and Jody had done. Norman tells her that she is going crazy, and decides to take her home. As they are crossing a bridge, they meet Warren, and Claire starts accusing him of killing Mary. When Warren looks confused, a lady comes over and asks him what the problem is. It turns out to be Mary Feur, leaving Norman and Claire very embarrassed.
When Claire is once again downstairs in the dark, the picture falls off the windowsill again, and Claire removes the newspaper cutting from the broken frame. She notices the back
of the cutting, where a missing person's report is. Half way down the report, a name is mentioned - Madison Elizabeth... The end is cut off as it was only a cutting from the newspaper. Claire searches the missing persons records for Madison Elizabeth F. There her name was - Madison Elizabeth Frank, MEF. She looks at the picture on the record, and it looked like the reflection that Claire had previously seen in the bath. As Madison had been a student at the University where Norman had been a lecturer, Claire decides to investigate by visiting Madison's mother. It turned out that Madison had never been found. Claire finds a lock of hair in Madison's room, and takes it, and also sees a photo proving that a strangely shaped key she had found at home was Madison's.
Claire comes home and performs a ritual while holding Madisons hair, presumably causing Madison's spirit to enter Claire (this is indicated by Claire's eyes turning green, which is Madison's eye color). When Norman comes home from work Madison (in Claire's body) begins to seduce him. "Madison" then looks into the mirror and sees a memory of Claire drenched, standi
ng in the doorway. "Madison" then makes a comment about Claire catching on to Norman's affair with her. Norman, frightened from seeing the different eye color and upset by the comment, pushes "Madison" onto the floor causing her to drop the lock of hair thereby disconnecting Madison's spirit to Claire's body. Claire begins to remember the missing pieces of memory from the past year, when she had caught Norman with one of his students. She is distraught and goes to stay with Jody who tells her that she had seen Norman with a young woman in a bar in the local arty town of Adamant just before the accident, but then decided it would be better not to tell Claire. After an unhappy phone call, Claire decides to go home. She finds Norman in the bathtub, apparently electrocuted, but he turns out to be alright. As he denies ever having been in Adamant, she visits the town and guesses the key unlocks a jewelery box she sees in a shop window. Diving into the lake by her house she finds the box. As she steps back into the house, Norman sees her. he notices the box and has to tell her everything.
He explains that he slipped, just once. He began a relationship with Madison and soon after realized his mistake: he loves Claire much more. But Madison was unstable and she threatened N
orman that she would tell Claire, or worse, kill her. One day soon after the accident Norman came home to find her dead of an overdose of pills and a letter to Claire explaining everything. He put everything into her car and pushed it into the lake, burning the letter. He wanted to save his marriage, and his career. He and Claire then agree he should call the police and close the case. Norman makes a call from the house phone and goes off for a shower. Suspicious, Claire checks through the phone and the last called number is not the police. At that moment Norman presses a cloth containing halothane into her face and she is paralyzed. He places her into the running bath, for her to drown, unable to move, but completely conscious while she is paralyzed. He gives Jody a call, explaining that he would be sleeping at the lab overnight, so could she check on Claire in the morning? He leans over her to give her one final kiss, and notices a chain around her neck. He spins it around, and his face goes pale as he recognizes the pendant around her neck. A paranormal ghost jumps, making Norman scream and fall back into the mirror behind him. He collapses slowly on the floor, grasping at the bath on the way down. Claire pulls the plug out of the plughole with her foot, as the drugs are wearing off.
As she pulls herself up to the edge of the bath, Norman had vanished. Claire starts to crawl down the stairs, but there is still no one there, just blood marks all over everything. She picks up the phone, but it had been disconnected. The drug had almost all worn off by now. Claire starts walking towards the front door, picking up the keys to the truck on the way. She walks past Norman's body on the floor. As she gets in the truck, Norman starts running towards the door. Claire starts driving, but Norman manages to grab onto the edge of the truck. Claire needs to get to the middle of the bridge to get a signal on her mobile phone. As she reaches the middle of the bridge, he jumps into the front of the truck, and grabs the wheel. The truck veers into the lake. Claire can see the car where Madison's body is lying. Norman grabs Claire's leg so that she cannot escape, but the paranormal figure grabs Norman, dragging him to the bottom of the lake, and making him let go of her leg so she can float to the top and be safe.
In the Near Future: It is Winter and Claire is seen placing a single red rose on the grave of Madison Elizabeth Frank, but not the grave of Norman.
The next day, Claire decides to investigate by taking a basket of flowers and wine to the house as a "Welcome Gift". After nobody answers the door she walks round the side of the house and makes a startling discovery; a woman's sandal with a dark stain on it... She collects the sandal, and returns to the front door to leave the basket there. Warren returns as she is leaving the basket, and Claire explains why she was there and asks where Mary is. Warren gives a vague answer which leaves Claire even more worried.
Mysterious events begin to happen in Claire's house when Norman is not there - a picture falling off the window sill, doors opening and closing themselves and the computer screen typing 'MEF MEF MEF' (Mary E Feur). Throughout the film a framed newspaper clipping of Claire and Norman at an awards ceremony keeps mysteriously falling off tables and the glass breaks. At one point, Claire is running a bath and as she looks into the water she sees a second reflection over her shoulder. Claire then believes that Mary is dead, and is now haunting her. This prompts her to visit her husband at work in his lab. She chats to one of the scientists who explains the drug halothane which they are usi
ng in the lab. It paralyzes but leaves the victim completely conscious. Norman, of course, thinks that Claire is feeling a bit empty since Caitlin is at university and this is just an excuse to grab attention. Desperate for closure, Claire invites her best friend Jody to join her for a séance in her bathroom where she had seen the reflection of Mary. Claire produces the sandal she had earlier taken from Mary's house, and places it on the table. The Ouija board does not move, but a candle starts to flicker, then goes out. The dial on the Ouija board then starts to move slowly from M to F. Nothing else happens, so Claire and Jody break the Ouija circle and Claire puts the Ouija board in a cupboard downstairs under some sweaters, and asks Jody not to tell Norman about the séance which Jody dutifully does not.Claire returns to Norman's workplace, where she informs Norman of what she and Jody had done. Norman tells her that she is going crazy, and decides to take her home. As they are crossing a bridge, they meet Warren, and Claire starts accusing him of killing Mary. When Warren looks confused, a lady comes over and asks him what the problem is. It turns out to be Mary Feur, leaving Norman and Claire very embarrassed.
When Claire is once again downstairs in the dark, the picture falls off the windowsill again, and Claire removes the newspaper cutting from the broken frame. She notices the back
of the cutting, where a missing person's report is. Half way down the report, a name is mentioned - Madison Elizabeth... The end is cut off as it was only a cutting from the newspaper. Claire searches the missing persons records for Madison Elizabeth F. There her name was - Madison Elizabeth Frank, MEF. She looks at the picture on the record, and it looked like the reflection that Claire had previously seen in the bath. As Madison had been a student at the University where Norman had been a lecturer, Claire decides to investigate by visiting Madison's mother. It turned out that Madison had never been found. Claire finds a lock of hair in Madison's room, and takes it, and also sees a photo proving that a strangely shaped key she had found at home was Madison's.Claire comes home and performs a ritual while holding Madisons hair, presumably causing Madison's spirit to enter Claire (this is indicated by Claire's eyes turning green, which is Madison's eye color). When Norman comes home from work Madison (in Claire's body) begins to seduce him. "Madison" then looks into the mirror and sees a memory of Claire drenched, standi
ng in the doorway. "Madison" then makes a comment about Claire catching on to Norman's affair with her. Norman, frightened from seeing the different eye color and upset by the comment, pushes "Madison" onto the floor causing her to drop the lock of hair thereby disconnecting Madison's spirit to Claire's body. Claire begins to remember the missing pieces of memory from the past year, when she had caught Norman with one of his students. She is distraught and goes to stay with Jody who tells her that she had seen Norman with a young woman in a bar in the local arty town of Adamant just before the accident, but then decided it would be better not to tell Claire. After an unhappy phone call, Claire decides to go home. She finds Norman in the bathtub, apparently electrocuted, but he turns out to be alright. As he denies ever having been in Adamant, she visits the town and guesses the key unlocks a jewelery box she sees in a shop window. Diving into the lake by her house she finds the box. As she steps back into the house, Norman sees her. he notices the box and has to tell her everything.He explains that he slipped, just once. He began a relationship with Madison and soon after realized his mistake: he loves Claire much more. But Madison was unstable and she threatened N
orman that she would tell Claire, or worse, kill her. One day soon after the accident Norman came home to find her dead of an overdose of pills and a letter to Claire explaining everything. He put everything into her car and pushed it into the lake, burning the letter. He wanted to save his marriage, and his career. He and Claire then agree he should call the police and close the case. Norman makes a call from the house phone and goes off for a shower. Suspicious, Claire checks through the phone and the last called number is not the police. At that moment Norman presses a cloth containing halothane into her face and she is paralyzed. He places her into the running bath, for her to drown, unable to move, but completely conscious while she is paralyzed. He gives Jody a call, explaining that he would be sleeping at the lab overnight, so could she check on Claire in the morning? He leans over her to give her one final kiss, and notices a chain around her neck. He spins it around, and his face goes pale as he recognizes the pendant around her neck. A paranormal ghost jumps, making Norman scream and fall back into the mirror behind him. He collapses slowly on the floor, grasping at the bath on the way down. Claire pulls the plug out of the plughole with her foot, as the drugs are wearing off.As she pulls herself up to the edge of the bath, Norman had vanished. Claire starts to crawl down the stairs, but there is still no one there, just blood marks all over everything. She picks up the phone, but it had been disconnected. The drug had almost all worn off by now. Claire starts walking towards the front door, picking up the keys to the truck on the way. She walks past Norman's body on the floor. As she gets in the truck, Norman starts running towards the door. Claire starts driving, but Norman manages to grab onto the edge of the truck. Claire needs to get to the middle of the bridge to get a signal on her mobile phone. As she reaches the middle of the bridge, he jumps into the front of the truck, and grabs the wheel. The truck veers into the lake. Claire can see the car where Madison's body is lying. Norman grabs Claire's leg so that she cannot escape, but the paranormal figure grabs Norman, dragging him to the bottom of the lake, and making him let go of her leg so she can float to the top and be safe.
In the Near Future: It is Winter and Claire is seen placing a single red rose on the grave of Madison Elizabeth Frank, but not the grave of Norman.