Paperhouse

While suffering from glandular fever, 11-year-old Anna Madden draws a house. She falls asleep and enters a troubling dream where she finds herself inside the drawing. The dream sets up the central conceit: the house is a portal to another world that blurs with reality.

In her first dream, Anna finds herself inside the very house she drew. The space feels tangible as if the drawing had become real. A sense of unease grows as the environment responds to her presence.

After drawing a face at the window, Anna's next dream introduces Marc, a real boy living with muscular dystrophy in the house. She learns from her doctor that Marc exists in the real world and is connected to her drawings. The dream deepens the mystery: drawings seem to affect actual people.

Anna discovers that Marc is a real person when her doctor explains his existence outside her dreams. This revelation blurs the line between fantasy and reality. The bond between drawing and real patient becomes central to the story.

In subsequent dreams, Anna adds a staircase to the house so she can visit Marc more easily. Each addition to the drawing materializes in the dream, reinforcing the connection between her art and the lived world. The dream world expands as she grows closer to Marc.

Anna keeps enriching the house with new rooms and a front-yard fruit tree. The changes she makes in her drawings appear in the dream, reinforcing that the two realms influence each other. The escalating details reflect her increasing hope and fear for Marc.

Anna sketches her father into the drawing so he can help carry Marc away, but she accidentally gives him an angry expression. The drawing thus brings a threatening version of her father into the dream world. This prompts a dangerous confrontation as the father figure appears.

In the dream, Anna's father breaks into the closet and tries to harm Anna. Marc musters strength to fight back with a hammer, destroying the violent figure. Anna awakens to a hospital scene that echoes the dream's violence.

Anna wakes up in the hospital; doctors say Marc is getting better, but Anna senses his death is imminent. She reveals information she couldn't have known otherwise, showing how much she has learned from the dream-relationship with Marc. She asks for her drawing supplies, keeping the connection alive.

While recovering, Anna's father returns with her mother to discuss a holiday. Anna remains distant, but she sketches a new, nicer room for Marc and even adds a pencil for future needs in dreams. The boundary between care and fantasy remains delicate.

In a dream by the lighthouse, Marc seems cured and the two share time together on a hill. They discuss drawing a ladder to leave the cliff, and Marc hints he can draw a helicopter but insists he must do it alone in the lighthouse. Anna wakes before knowing the outcome.

Anna is discharged from the hospital and learns that Marc has died. She reveals she already knew the truth, underscoring how the bond with him has affected her. Her relationship with her father begins to improve despite the grief.

The family goes on a seaside holiday. Anna discovers a note from Marc with a drawing of a helicopter, stating he can't wait but will come back if she waits. A helicopter arrives with a ladder, and Anna's mother saves her from falling off the cliff as the moment closes.

The film ends with Anna in her parents' arms, having come to terms with Marc's death and repaired relationships. A final image shows hope: Marc promises to return if she waits and the helicopter ladder hints at his eventual return.