The haunting story of a young woman who leaves her home for the first time to care for two children who have been abandoned by their previous governess in circumstances of some mystery. While taking a walk in the grounds one evening, she sees a ghostly figure on the tower. Feeling that the scene has been stricken with death she begins to investigate. With great tenacity she struggles to confirm that the children are being corrupted by the spirits of former servants Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. But are the ghosts she sees real? Is she a protector, a medium for evil or a calculating villain?