Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte

During a party at the Hollis mansion in Ascension Parish, Charlotte plans to elope with John Mayhew. Sam Hollis confronts John's affair and John pretends he can no longer love Charlotte. Moments later, John is ambushed and decapitated in the summerhouse, and Charlotte returns in a bloodstained dress witnessed by the guests.

With John's murder unsolved, rumors swirl that Charlotte was involved or complicit. The horrific incident taints the Hollis mansion and cements Charlotte's reputation as the source of tragedy. The tragedy resonates through generations and frames the family history.

Thirty-seven years pass and Charlotte, now a spinster, inherits the Hollis estate after her father's death. She is tended by her loyal housekeeper Velma as the family home endures as a relic of old wealth. The looming threat of urban development only hardens her attachment to the mansion.

The Louisiana Highway Commission moves to evict Charlotte to clear space for a new interstate. She defies the order and confronts the demolition crew with a rifle, proving she will not yield the family home. The clash marks a turning point where progress collides with a stubborn Southern legacy.

Miriam, Charlotte's cousin who once lived with the family, returns from New York to help in the fight and renews a romance with local doctor Drew Bayliss. Her presence injects new energy and ambition into the estate's affairs. Old secrets begin to surface as loyalties shift.

Charlotte's sanity deteriorates as nighttime disturbances return: a haunting harpsichord tune purportedly written by John and the emergence of his disembodied hand and head around the house. The spectral visitations erode her grip on reality and increase the suspicion cast on those around her. The mansion seems populated by a resentful past that won't stay buried.

Velma seeks outside help from Mr. Willis, an English insurance investigator who has long followed the Mayhew case. He visits Jewel, John's widow, and holds onto an envelope that is meant to be opened only after Jewel's death. His involvement adds a new, external layer to the intrigue surrounding the estate.

Miriam fires Velma, and when Velma later returns to the house she finds Charlotte drugged. Miriam strikes Velma with a chair, causing her to fall to her death, and Drew covers the murder by calling it an accident. The pair tighten their grip on the household by removing a key obstacle.

One night, a drugged Charlotte staggers downstairs in a hallucinatory trance, believing John has returned. Miriam manipulates her into shooting Drew with blanks, after which Drew's body is disposed of in a swamp. The couple's plot to eliminate witnesses accelerates as Charlotte's mental state collapses.

Miriam and Drew celebrate their plan to have Charlotte committed to a psychiatric hospital and seize her fortune. Charlotte overhears the entire plan from the balcony, learning she has been branded as a danger to herself and her inheritance. The realization crystallizes into a resolve that leads toward a final confrontation.

From the balcony, Charlotte overhears Miriam and Drew's plan to take her fortune, and she does not hear Miriam admit that she witnessed Jewel kill John and used that knowledge to blackmail Jewel. The incomplete revelation sharpens Charlotte's sense of betrayal and drives her toward action.

That night, Charlotte pushes a large stone urn off the balcony, killing Miriam and Drew below. The act serves as a brutal, decisive blow against the conspirators and marks a climactic turning point in Charlottes' fight for control.

The next day, authorities escort Charlotte away as a crowd gathers to witness the spectacle. An envelope from Mr. Willis, delivered by Jewel, appears to confess to John's murder, further muddying the truth. Jewel dies of a stroke shortly after hearing of the night’s events, leaving the real killer shrouded in mystery as Charlotte looks back at the house.