Based on the 1962 novel of the same name, this film adaptation, written by Mark Kruger, follows sisters Merricat (Taissa Farmiga) and Constance (Alexandra Daddario) as they live an isolated life with their Uncle Julian (Crispin Glover). Despite a family tragedy five years earlier which saw all of their other relatives die from arsenic poisoning, the family lives a charmed life in a huge manor house behind a large gate. But once their cousin Charles (Sebastian Stan) arrives and asserts himself into their lives, they realize he may be armed with a secret they do not wish to be known.