1937: Young Emily is trapped in a nightmare, chronic agoraphobia and a strange, domineering mother have turned their sprawling gothic mansion into a prison. On the brink of madness, Emily is haunted by lurking malevolent forces, her only hope, the desperate belief her missing father could save her from this living hell. But as she longs for his return, Emily is tormented by visions of a sinister, gnarled black hand—a spectre haunting her earliest memories. It is a homage to the unsettling atmosphere of 1950s horror cinema, echoing the terror of THE HAUNTING and the ghostly dread of THE INNOCENTS.

When mother and daughter, Thema and Ama encounter discrimination at work and at school, they both learn they have very different approaches to handling their challenges.