Year: 1993
Runtime: 106 mins
Language: English
Director: Michael Apted
After years of blindness, Emma undergoes experimental eye surgery that restores partial sight, but her new vision is unreliable—she sometimes cannot recall what she has just seen. One night she hears a disturbance, spots a shadow descending the stairs, and believes her neighbor has been murdered, only to doubt whether her eyes deceive her.
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Emma Brody, a violinist for a Celtic rock band in Chicago, has lived in darkness for two decades after a brutal attack by her abusive mother left her blind. She volunteers for an experimental operation, and her surgeon, Dr. Ryan Pierce, performs corneal transplants in hopes of restoring her sight. The procedure brings partial vision back, but it also reveals a troubling side effect she and her doctors never anticipated: retroactive hallucination, where some visions only register in her brain days after they occur.
Soon after, Emma notices a noise from the apartment above and spies a shadowy figure gliding down the stairs, prompting her to visit the police. Yet her impaired vision makes the claim precarious in the eyes of the investigators. The plot thickens when her upstairs neighbor, Valerie, is found murdered, and Detective John Hallstrom—previously skeptical of Emma—begins to lean on her for clues. The case tightens around the idea that the killer targets people connected to organ donors, a thread that starts to pull Emma deeper into danger.
After a routine appointment with the same doctor, Emma heads to the hospital’s parking garage, where her guide dog Ralphie starts barking and acting unsettled. A crucifix pendant left on the ground becomes a cryptic clue, and Ralphie’s frantic chase after a would‑be attacker ends with the dog being hit by a car and needing veterinary care. This incident convinces Hallstrom to treat Emma as a vital witness, and he even assigns his colleague to watch over her, a move that places him in a closer, more personal orbit with her as their relationship quietly deepens.
As the romance blossoms, Emma and Hallstrom’s bond is tested by professional doubts and the relentless pressure of the case. Emma’s trust is further strained when she agrees to date Dr. Pierce, and Hallstrom watches from a distance, torn between his duties and his growing affection. The killer continues to strike in Milwaukee, and Hallstrom is reprimanded for not having captured the culprit, which leads him to rely even more on Emma’s unsettling visions.
Emma’s warnings become sharper when she discovers medical bills addressed to her that strangely mention the upstairs apartment as her own. Hallstrom pieces together that the murderer is targeting recipients of a specific organ donor, Leslie Davison, and that the Davison family might be pulling strings to reach Emma. Dr. Pierce reappears outside Emma’s apartment with a troubling message: the Davison family wants to establish contact with Emma. After some hesitation, she accepts help and heads to a location with Crowe, the officer assigned to protect her.
The address turns out to be empty, and Emma tells Crowe that something isn’t right. As Crowe waits in a parked car, the killer ambushes Emma in a garage, having killed the cop in his own vehicle and locking the doors. The attacker taunts Emma, calling her Leslie, and a brutal struggle unfolds. Emma’s impaired vision makes every step precarious as she fights to seize the attacker’s gun. Hallstrom, learning that Emma went to the supposed address, arrives with backup to close in on the truth.
In a tense, extended chase through the dim garage, Emma manages to shoot the killer dead, bringing the immediate danger to an end. The police arrive, and she is led to safety. Back at the station, Emma faces questioning about the night’s events. As the case closes, Ridgeley steps in to offer a ride home, but Hallstrom is waiting outside with Ralphie recovered. In a quiet, intimate moment, Emma chooses to walk home with Hallstrom, and they share a tender kiss, suggesting the start of something personal amid the murky, haunting memories of the case.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:23
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