The Woman in the Fifth (2012) Plot Summary Explained

Tom takes the night guard position to support himself financially while he works on his novel. The job is ideal because his responsibilities are minimal, he only needs to press a button when a bell rings, leaving him ample time to write. The quiet of the night shift is meant to provide the mental space he needs to complete his new book.

Foreshadowing: Early scenes establish Tom as a struggling writer who moved to Paris partly to find creative inspiration.

• night guard job
• Tom Ricks
• Paris
• writer
• finances

Margit insists on meeting Tom at exactly 5 PM, twice a week, at her apartment in the fifth arrondissement. She demands that Tom never ask about her work or past. These unusual conditions suggest she is hiding something significant about her identity, which later becomes clear when Tom discovers she has been dead for 15 years.

Foreshadowing: The rigid schedule and mysterious prohibitions hint that Margit is not what she appears to be.

• Margit
• 5 PM meetings
• rules
• relationship
• mystery

Tom's neighbor discovers his affair with Ania and begins blackmailing him. Shortly after Tom confronts the neighbor about the blackmail, the neighbor is found dead. Police suspect Tom of the murder, putting him in a dangerous position. The actual murderer turns out to be the hostel's owner, the crime boss who employed Tom.

Foreshadowing: The blackmail threat creates immediate tension and provides motive for Tom, making him the obvious suspect.

• neighbor death
• murder
• blackmail
• affair
• police investigation

After the neighbor's death, Tom's daughter mysteriously disappears from wherever she was staying with his ex-wife. Tom believes some malevolent force is punishing him for his past wrongs, suggesting he connects his daughter's vanishing to the supernatural presence he associates with Margit. She is later found wandering in a nearby forest and reunited with her mother.

Foreshadowing: The disappearance follows the neighbor's death, creating a pattern of escalating consequences Tom attributes to Margit.

• daughter missing
• Tom's daughter
• forest
• ex-wife

When Tom tries to use his meetings with Margit as an alibi for the night of the neighbor's murder, he discovers that Margit has been dead for 15 years and never lived at the address he provided to police. This revelation confirms that Margit is either a hallucination or a ghost, and that Tom's mental illness may have returned.

Foreshadowing: Earlier hints include Margit's mysterious rules, her refusal to discuss her past, and the unnatural precision of their meetings.

• Margit dead
• ghost
• identity
• hallucination
• police

The evidence strongly suggests Margit is not physically real. She has been dead for 15 years, yet Tom consistently met with her at her apartment. His history of mental illness and the psychological strain of his situation likely triggered delusions. Whether she is a ghost or purely imaginary remains ambiguous, which is central to the film's exploration of Tom's deteriorating mind.

Foreshadowing: The strange conditions of their relationship and Tom's mental health history set up this uncertainty.

• Margit real
• hallucination
• ghost
• delusion
• mental illness

Despite discovering Margit is dead, Tom returns to her apartment instead of staying with Ania at the bar. This choice suggests Tom prefers the fantasy or supernatural connection with Margit over a real, grounded relationship. Margit claims to understand him deeply and represents the most genuine love he believes he will ever experience, making him unable to let go despite the truth.

Foreshadowing: Margit's earlier assertion that she understands him better than anyone else plants the seed for this final choice.

• Tom returns Margit
• ending
• choice
• Ania
• love

The police ultimately identify the hostel's owner, the crime boss who employed Tom, as the actual murderer of Tom's neighbor. This clears Tom of the murder suspicion, though it also means the violence in his life was connected to the criminal world he unknowingly became involved with through his job.

Foreshadowing: Tom's employment at the hostel places him in proximity to dangerous criminal activity.

• hostel owner
• murderer
• police
• crime boss
• killer

Tom's history of mental illness is the foundation for much of the film's ambiguity. His divorce from his ex-wife stemmed from his struggles with mental health, though he appeared to have recovered. The events in Paris, his affair with a ghost, the paranoia, the violent confrontations, suggest his mental state deteriorates significantly, blurring reality with delusion.

Foreshadowing: Tom's move to Paris to be near his daughter despite their separation hints at his unstable emotional state.

• mental illness
• divorce
• delusion
• recovery
• psychological

Ania, the Polish barmaid at the hostel, shares Tom's passion for literature and they form a genuine emotional connection that becomes physical. Their relationship represents a normal, grounding connection in contrast to the mysterious Margit. However, Tom ultimately chooses the unresolved, potentially supernatural connection with Margit over the healthy relationship with Ania.

Foreshadowing: Ania represents reality and stability, making her a foil to the impossible Margit.

• Ania
• relationship
• barmaid
• Polish
• affair

Tom accuses Margit of being responsible for his daughter's disappearance, believing she has some supernatural power to punish those who wrong him. However, the film never confirms this. His daughter is found safe in a forest, and the real world crime (the hostel owner being a murderer) suggests natural explanations for at least some of the chaos, though the question of Margit's involvement remains intentionally unclear.

Foreshadowing: Tom's growing paranoia connects all negative events to Margit as a malevolent force.

• Margit responsible
• daughter disappearance
• supernatural
• accusation