Suzanne Dina Meyer and her 7-year-old stepdaughter Molly Driscoll move into a new house after Molly’s father, Michael Driscoll Rick Ravanello, becomes manager of a sawmill. Molly’s mother died two years earlier from breast cancer, leaving a quiet ache behind them as they settle into their unfamiliar surroundings. Soon, Molly forms a powerful, almost urgent bond with an imaginary friend named Candace—an attachment that begins as a harmless curiosity (sharing toys, stories, and attention) but quickly turns unsettling.
Molly insists Candace is real, and she even asks to be Candace’s “mummy,” explaining that Candace’s own mother died in childbirth and Candace endured mistreatment at the hands of her father. The friendship intensifies at night, and a disturbing incident occurs when Candace tries to drown Molly during a bath. Molly is able to relay shocking details that Candace would know, such as finding corn husks and other oddities tucked away in the attic, which Suzanne can neither fully explain nor ignore. A visit to the attic reveals a hidden room that disrupts Suzanne’s sense of safety, a discovery Michael dismisses as being overdramatized.
At school, Molly’s behavior becomes increasingly troubling and the classroom environment grows tense. Suzanne’s concerns deepen after meeting Dora, an elderly resident at a local care home, who appears to be able to see Candace. The encounter unnerves Suzanne, but she presses on and brings Molly’s doctor to the house to examine the strange signs. The household’s dynamic strains as Michael returns and tries to manage the mounting fear, while Candace’s influence over Molly grows bolder and more dangerous.
Dora later lends Suzanne a protective locket, and Molly invites a classmate, Megan, to visit. The two girls join Suzanne in a game of blindfold tag—an activity that Candace seems to exploit, luring Suzanne toward the stairs. A tense moment follows when Candace isolates Megan in the shed, though Suzanne manages to free her. Afterward, Molly is seen praying at two graves near the church, and a priest nearby watches the scene with wary eyes.
Back in the attic, Suzanne uncovers a notebook that documents abuse from someone’s father and contains the name Candace Brewer, confirming Candace’s reality. She shows the journal to Michael, who resists confronting the truth. As rumors swirl, Molly is removed from school amid the gossip and fear that have taken hold. Dora warns Suzanne that Candace is dangerous and urges caution moving forward.
Suzanne seeks answers at the church graveyard and learns more about Candace’s family history. Candace’s mother died in childbirth, and Candace’s father confessed to hanging Candace after suffering abuse, a revelation that twists the family’s past into a motive for vengeance. The discovery implies that Candace’s malevolent influence may be tied to a desire to punish those who caused her parents’ suffering.
The haunting intensifies as Molly remains haunted by Candace—who claims she will not let the new life (the baby on the way) come to be. When Suzanne attempts to prepare a nursery, an unseen force knocks her from a ladder, and she loses the baby. Grief and rage drive further conflict between Suzanne and Michael, and Dr. Barrett—a therapist who has been involved with Molly’s case—arrives and concludes Molly is in a catatonic state, her mind seemingly occupied by Candace. A dramatic car accident involving Dr. Barrett leaves her fate uncertain, and the hospital becomes the stage for further revelations.
Suzanne and Rob (Dr. Rob Connelly) visit the hospital as Molly awakens and calls Suzanne “Mummy.” It becomes clear that Candace has not died; she has possessed Molly, and Michael is urged to leave the room so the child can be tended to. Dora returns with a chilling directive: Candace must be stopped, and Suzanne must uncover more pages in Candace’s history. The search leads to Father O’Donnell, and Father Philip [Jim Shepard] reveals letters describing Candace’s family’s past and the brutal punishment Candace endured. Suzanne learns Candace’s father confessed to killing her, and that Candace murdered by the abuse she endured and the cycle she upheld.
In a climactic confrontation, Candace (through Molly) pressures Michael to surrender Molly to her, but Suzanne pleads with Molly to choose life and to grow up, to form her own family rather than be trapped by a ghost’s vengeance. Suzanne convinces Molly to escape with her and, together, they flee the house as it trembles and shakes. Candace’s presence lingers in the wreckage, seen briefly from the outside as the house collapses into the night. The family escapes, leaving behind a home haunted by a tragic history.
In the aftermath, a new family moves into the same house. Dora approaches the newcomers, asking if they’ve seen her sister, hinting at Candace’s enduring influence. It is revealed that Dora is the mother of the real estate agent who shows the house, a twist that ties Candace’s ghost to the living world and suggests her presence may still loom in the home. As the new inhabitants step inside, the old swing in the yard sways once more, hinting that Candace’s memory and malevolent energy have not been entirely erased, but merely displaced, continuing to watch over the house and the family that now occupies it.
