Blithe Spirit

Writer Charles Condomine invites eccentric medium Madame Arcati to his home in Lympne, Kent, to gather material for his occult-based novel. He hopes the séance will yield authentic details about spiritualism for his writing. Arcati agrees and prepares to travel to the Condomines' house with her distinctive rituals.

During the séance, Arcati enters a trance and the voice of Charles's dead first wife, Elvira, speaks. The other attendees cannot hear Elvira, leaving Charles startled and relieved when he seems to have imagined it. The moment sets off the central mystery of the film.

After Arcati leaves, Charles struggles to convince Ruth and the others that he truly heard Elvira. He evasively passes it off as a joke to avoid looking foolish, masking his uncertainty with humor. The disbelief of Ruth grows as the truth remains uncertain.

The following evening, Elvira reappears, further confusing the household. Only Charles can see and hear her, while Ruth and the guests remain unconvinced and increasingly suspicious of his perception.

Charles persuades Elvira to act as a poltergeist, moving a vase and a chair in front of Ruth. The playful haunting quickly escalates into real fear and strain in their marriage. The home becomes a charged stage for spectral mischief.

Ruth is frightened by the escalating antics and withdraws, retreating to another room. Charles watches the turmoil with a mix of concern and resignation, unable to fully convince her of Elvira's existence.

Desperate for resolution, Ruth seeks Madame Arcati's assistance in banishing Elvira. Arcati admits that she does not know exactly how to reverse the original séance, highlighting the fragility of their supernatural predicament.

Ruth warns Charles that Elvira intends to be reunited with him by arranging his demise. The warning foreshadows danger and deepens the rift between the living and the awaiting afterlife.

Elvira's machinations culminate in Ruth driving off in a car she has tampered with, leading to a fatal crash. The death shifts the haunting from a joke to a tragic consequence, and Elvira's influence extends into Ruth's spirit.

As a living ghost, Ruth haunts Elvira, pressing her to depart from the earthly realm. The two specters entangle in a tense dynamic as Elvira wrestles with the idea of remaining as a spirit.

Charles seeks Arcati's help again, but incantations fail. Arcati realizes that Edith, the Condomines' maid, was the one who summoned Elvira in the first place, exposing the true origin of the haunting.

Arcati seems to banish the spirits, but it becomes clear that both Elvira and Ruth have remained. The haunting persists despite the apparent success, leaving the living unsettled.

On Arcati's suggestion, Charles leaves for a long vacation in an attempt to escape the supernatural trouble. The separation is incomplete, and the sense that the spirits still linger remains.

While on the road, Charles experiences a fatal accident, implied to be the work of Ruth and Elvira. He dies and joins his late wives as a spirit, completing the spectral circle that began with the séance.