American Gothic

Cynthia, haunted by her baby's death, joins five friends on a vacation. They charter a plane in Seattle but engine trouble forces an emergency landing on a lonely Puget Sound island. They begin to set up camp and try to figure out their next move.

With the plane grounded, the group establishes a camp on the island and starts to explore their surroundings. The isolation and eerie weather set a tense tone as they search for help. Tension rises as they realize they are far from civilization.

The group discovers a large cottage in the woods and is welcomed by an elderly couple known as Ma and Pa. They are invited to spend the night, fueling a sense of unease about their hospitality. The couple's strange child, Fanny, heightens the strangeness.

During dinner, Ma and Pa lay down strict rules, such as no swearing and separating boys and girls to avoid premarital sex. The rules deepen the sense that the house hides darker norms. The friends reluctantly accept as night settles.

The next morning, Rob goes for a walk and encounters Fanny’s brother Woody on a crude swing. Woody climbs to the top, chops the rope, and Rob plummets to a rocky cliff below. The group mourns the sudden loss and realizes the danger surrounding the family.

Lynn and Cynthia discuss how the family seems like freaks, and Fanny overhears. Cynthia consoles Fanny and reluctantly agrees to play games with her. The bond between the outsiders and the child grows in a disturbing way.

Fanny shows Cynthia her baby, which is actually the remains of an infant, not a doll. The revelation confirms the family’s disturbing secrets. Cynthia’s trust in Ma and Pa starts to crumble.

Lynn encounters Woody, Teddy, and Fanny playing together and insults them. In retaliation, they attack her in the woods, and she is left unseen and presumably dead. The threat from the cottage intensifies.

Cynthia confides in Jeff about the mummified infant. Fanny confronts them and kills Jeff with a sword, directly foreshadowing the family’s reach. Ma then finishes Jeff off with knitting needles, sealing his fate.

Cynthia confronts Ma about her fears, but Ma attacks; Cynthia flees into the woods. She discovers Lynn’s corpse and Terri, who is frightened and needs help. The group’s escape plan begins to form.

Terri and Cynthia find themselves cornered and decide to force Fanny to help them off the island. Terri pulls a gun and holds Fanny at bay, demanding the group’s chance to leave. The plan relies on Pa revealing a boat.

Ma and Pa direct the women toward a dinky fisherman's boat, where Paul’s corpse lies with an ax buried in his skull. They debate their next move as night approaches. Woody and Teddy begin to close in.

Terri is captured by Teddy and has her neck snapped in a brutal moment in the woods. Teddy also rapes Terri’s corpse, an act revealed later as the family’s depravity degrades further. Cynthia watches in horror as the night darkens.

Overcome by trauma, Cynthia begins to imitate the family’s madness, joining in a disturbing birthday celebration for Fanny. Flashbacks of her drowned baby intensify, driving her to murder.

Cynthia murders Fanny with a bludgeon, then kills Woody with a sword and Ma with knitting needles. Pa confronts her and is killed by a shotgun blast, leaving Cynthia alone in the house. The film ends with her upstairs, rocking Fanny’s cradle and singing a lullaby.