Picture Mommy Dead (1966) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Susan Shelley was released from St. Marie's Convent and Hospital after spending three years there recovering from a nervous breakdown. She had been institutionalized following her mother Jessica's death in a fire, which left her mentally unstable. Though doctors deemed her mentally healthy upon release, Susan remained confused about whether her mother's death was truly an accident.

Foreshadowing: The trauma from witnessing or being present during Jessica's death triggered Susan's psychological collapse.

• susan shelley
• asylum
• st marie
• nervous breakdown
• mother death

Edward Shelley, Susan's father, killed Jessica. He strangled her and then set fire to her bed to make it look like an accident. He confessed to this crime when Francene threatened to expose Susan as a murderer, revealing he killed Jessica to appease Francene, with whom he was having an affair.

Foreshadowing: Francene's arrival as Edward's new wife and her immediate interest in Susan's inheritance plant seeds of suspicion about the family's true dynamics.

• jessica flagmore
• edward shelley
• murder
• strangulation
• fire

The necklace is Jessica's valuable heirloom that Susan discovers inside a torn doll. This diamond necklace was the key to the inheritance conflict - Francene and Anthony were trying to locate it because it represented a significant portion of the family fortune. The necklace serves as both physical evidence of Jessica's murder and the object that drives much of the conspiracy against Susan.

Foreshadowing: The necklace's presence in Susan's doll, hidden away, suggests Jessica may have concealed it knowing danger was coming.

• diamond necklace
• heirloom
• inheritance
• francene
• anthony

Francene impersonates Jessica to trick Susan into handing over the valuable necklace. By posing as Jessica's ghost or spirit, she hopes to manipulate the psychologically vulnerable Susan into giving up the heirloom without suspicion. This mirrors the actual circumstances of Jessica's death, where she was killed for presumably similar reasons related to money.

Foreshadowing: Francene's knowledge of how to mimic Jessica suggests she knew her well - potentially through her relationship with Edward.

• francene
• jessica impersonation
• trick
• necklace
• manipulation

Francene and Anthony are lovers who conspire together to steal Susan's inheritance. They plot to gain control of the substantial trust fund Susan will receive at age 25. Their plan involves manipulating Susan mentally and potentially having her recommitted to an asylum so they can access her money. Anthony is Susan's older cousin.

Foreshadowing: Their private conversations reveal a calculated partnership driven entirely by financial greed.

• francene
• anthony
• lovers
• conspiracy
• inheritance
• trust fund

The bleeding portrait is a psychological moment that convinces Susan her mother was murdered. While the bleeding is visually supernatural, it represents Susan's subconscious processing of the truth - that Jessica's death was not an accident. This moment triggers Susan's investigation into her mother's death and her determination to find evidence.

Foreshadowing: The supernatural bleeding serves as the catalyst for Susan to connect her father's new marriage to her mother's death.

• portrait
• bleeding
• supernatural
• jessica
• psychological
• investigation

Susan deduces her mother was murdered after experiencing disturbing visions and the bleeding portrait incident. These traumatic experiences combined with her return to the mansion, where she encounters Francene and senses something wrong, lead her to conclude that Jessica's death was not the accident everyone claimed it was. The discovery of the necklace in her doll further reinforces this belief.

Foreshadowing: Susan's psychological break may have been triggered by witnessing something she couldn't consciously process at the time of her mother's death.

• susan
• jessica murdered
• evidence
• vision
• investigation

Edward kills Francene after she threatens to expose Susan as a murderer and demands a divorce with a payoff. When Francene awakens clutching the necklace and accuses Susan of killing both Jessica and Anthony, Edward confesses to killing Jessica. Francene responds with hysterical laughter, which enrages Edward. In a rage, he strangles Francene to death - the same method he used to kill Jessica.

Foreshadowing: Edward's pattern of violence against women who threaten him or stand in his way becomes clear through his identical methods.

• edward shelley
• francene
• strangle
• murder
• confession

In the ending, Susan helps Edward hide his crimes because she shares complicity in the murders. When she was a child, she helped Edward cover up Jessica's murder - the same role she now plays again with Francene's death. Rather than seeking justice, Susan chooses survival and familial loyalty, escaping with her father as the mansion burns. The bleak ending suggests Susan has been fundamentally corrupted by the family violence.

Foreshadowing: Susan's initial psychological breakdown may have been triggered by her role in covering up her mother's murder as a child.

• susan
• edward
• cover up
• escape
• complicity
• ending

Susan deliberately sets the bedroom on fire with a candle after taking the necklace from Francene's body. She and Edward escape together as the Flagmore mansion burns. The fire destroys the evidence of all the murders committed within, allowing Susan and Edward to flee with their secrets. The burning house serves as both literal destruction of the toxic inheritance and a symbolic purging of the family's dark secrets.

Foreshadowing: Fire has been the consistent method used to conceal murder throughout the film - Jessica's death, the attempts on Susan's life, and now the final cover-up.

• mansion burns
• fire
• escape
• evidence
• cover up
• ending