招福（刘青云 饰）原本是个不可一世的少爷，母亲是个寡妇，一心想儿子可以成家。招积（黄子华 饰）是招福的堂弟，也是招家的第二继承人。招积一直对招福不满，于是在街头游说在街头卖艺的望弟（吴倩莲 饰）与招福结婚以骗取聘礼。成亲当天，招积故意让招福在高处坠下，招福自此变成了痴呆，望弟与父亲（元华 饰）趁机逃走了。不久，望弟遇到了流落街头的招福，处于内疚与同情，望弟收留了招福。
The film opens in a bleak police station where celebrated war correspondent Kate Rafter (Seagrove) faces questions from a psychiatrist, Dr Shaw (Kurylenko), as they work through the painful events of Rafter’s life. A horrific incident in war-torn Iraq and the death of her mother (Steed) have brought a haunted Rafter home to Herne Bay, a place she believed she had escaped forever. Her resentful sister (Friel) has not made her sister welcome and her forbearing husband Paul (Miles) fails to broker peace. Whilst packing up her mother’s belongings from her childhood home, Rafter comes to believe there is something strange and terrifying happening in the house next door.
