After returning to her remote hometown to settle her late father's estate, a mother and her two children discover a reclusive community. While the locals are initially unwelcoming, they eventually accept the new family.
The town's priest, Michael Howdy, develops a chilling and unhealthy interest in the mother's young daughter, Alice. Concerned townspeople notice his fixation, which is rooted in a past car crash that killed his wife, Isobel. Having suffered a severe head injury in the accident, the priest now experiences surreal fantasies, confusing Alice with his deceased wife.
The story leaves it deliberately ambiguous whether Alice's resemblance is a mere coincidence or if there is a deeper, more sinister connection between her and the woman who died.
