Opera

Mara Cecova storms out of a dress rehearsal for Verdi's Macbeth at the Parma Opera House, furious about the live ravens and director Marco's horror-film sensibility. The disruption sends shockwaves through the production as crew scramble to salvage the performance. The stage is set for a tense, dangerous season ahead.

With Cecova sidelined by a car accident, Betty, the understudy, takes over the role of Lady Macbeth. Her agent Mira, director Marco, and her stage-manager boyfriend Stefano offer reassurance as she steps into the spotlight. The debut is nerve-wracking, but her performance proves resilient under pressure.

A stagehand discovers an intruder watching the opera from a balcony box reserved for personnel. The intruder is soon murdered, positioned against a coat hook, turning a moment of surveillance into a deadly clue. The killer remains at large as the night continues.

Betty receives a venomous letter from Cecova, insinuating old resentments and jealousy. The note adds psychological menace as the killer's identity remains hidden in the shadows of the opera world.

That night, a masked figure breaks into the opera house and slashes Betty's costume to sew a gold bracelet into it. The intruder is attacked by ravens, which kill three birds as the killer escapes. The strange rites surrounding the attack haunt the production.

Betty spends the night at Stefano's wealthy uncle's unoccupied residence, where the killer regains access to her. The assailant gags Betty, binds her, and forces her to witness Stefano's stabbing, even groping her before fleeing. The horror lingers as the killer's visitation becomes personal.

Betty reports the murder to the police from a payphone, while Marco drives her home. She describes a childhood nightmare in which her mother is bound in a dilapidated room, a memory that now feels dangerously real. The investigation begins to hinge on past trauma reawakened by the killer.

Inspector Santini questions the staff, while Betty meets seamstress Giulia to mend her costume. The killer reappears, binds Betty again, and stabs Giulia, who swallows the bracelet before being killed. The bracelet's disappearance tightens the web of motive around the crime.

Santini promises to send Betty his assistant Daniele Soave for protection. Betty admits a man she assumes is Soave into her apartment, but Mira arrives claiming a different man is posing as Soave. The impostor shoots Mira, and the real Soave re-enters mortally wounded, allowing Betty to escape via the ventilation with help from a neighbor girl.

Betty and Marco devise a plan to identify the killer during a live performance. Betty also wrestles with a recurring nightmare of her mother, hinting at inherited trauma that could help or hinder her in the days to come. The plan sets the stage for a dangerous unmasking.

During the following night's show, Marco releases ravens into the audience as a weapon of fear. Santini abducts Betty from her dressing room, a shocking reminder that the killer's fixation reaches beyond the stage. He reveals his obsession with Betty's mother, intensifying the danger.

Santini details his sick desire for Betty's mother, recounting how he tortured and murdered young women for her pleasure, an act that links him to the trauma haunting Betty. He blindfolds Betty, binds her to a chair, and stages his suicide by setting the room on fire. Betty breaks free and escapes the burning scene.

Betty and Marco retreat to Marco's mountain house in the Swiss Alps, where a news report claims the burned mannequin was not Santini and a manhunt is underway. Marco discovers his housekeeper murdered and shouts for Betty to flee as Santini closes in. The chase reaches a fever pitch as loyalties and survival hang in the balance.

Marco battles Santini and is stabbed to death, and Betty finally defeats Santini by striking him with a rock. The police arrest Santini, and Betty proclaims that she is nothing like her mother as she frees a lizard living in the foliage to mark a grim but hopeful end.