aunted by guilt after the death of her father, Caroline (Hudson) has become a dedicated hospice worker, caring for seriously ill patients as she couldn't care for him. After answering a classified ad, Caroline finds herself in the employ of Violet (Rowlands) Devereaux and her ailing husband, Ben (Hurt), the only residents of a decrepit plantation just outside of New Orleans. Violet agrees to take Caroline, whom she distrusts for her lack of Southern upbringing, into her home based on the advice of longtime family friend and lawyer Luke Marshall (Sarsgaard).
Upon her arrival, Violet gives Caroline an antique key—a skeleton key—and informs her that it opens every door in the house. But when Caroline is sent to the attic to retrieve something, she discovers the one door her key will not open. The room piques Caroline's curiosity, given that the attic is where Ben suffered his stroke, and she begins sneaking away whenever she can to explore. Eventually she does manage to open the locked door and makes a chilling discovery. The room behind it is filled with jars, dolls and spell-casting paraphernalia related to the practice of Hoodoo, a mystical folk magic that sprang out of the Voodoo religion (and is often confused with it), as she comes to learn.
When Caroline confronts Violet with this knowledge, she tells her that the original owner of the plantation had two servants, Papa Justify and Mama Cecile, who were feared and revered by the locals as the king and queen Hoodoo. One fateful night, a group of party guests caught the servants practicing their magic with the owner's son and daughter, and they were lynched by an angry mob. Their vengeful spirits, Violet tells her, still linger in the house.
Though Caroline doesn't believe in the supernatural, she accepts that Violet and Ben do, and begins to suspect that their beliefs may have something to do with Ben's illness. But with each new revelation, Caroline comes closer to a truth beyond anything she could have imagined.
Right ingredients, wrong spell
While the ideas at the dark heart of this film are intriguing, and Hudson is an undeniably likable star, those qualities are not enough to save it from the structural problems of a simple premise stretched too thin. The majority of the film is merely setup for the ultimate twist (seemingly a prerequisite for every thriller to come out since The Sixth Sense) at its conclusion. It starts interestingly enough, and ends with a sinister flourish, but there's little of substance in between.
To be sure, Skeleton Key isn't without its charms. Softley (whose last film was the underwhelming Kevin Spacey vehicle K-Pax) takes full advantage of the beautiful but subtly menacing backdrop of New Orleans and its surrounds. His camera floats through trees and swamps and hovers over the characters like a voyeuristic spirit. The audience is allowed a glimpse into the secret, well-researched world of Hoodoo conjuring and deeply held local superstitions. But all of this is just surface noise that should take a back seat to the story, instead of the other way around.
It is nice to see Hudson taking a break from lighthearted romantic comedies in favor of more dramatic work. She elevates what could be a standard damsel-in-distress role into a caring young woman with a determination born out of loss. As Violet, Rowlands is a hardened shell of a woman, but not quite threatening enough to make the film's climax (in which Hudson's character attempts a thrilling escape—in a rowboat) work. The talented Hurt is egregiously wasted in a role that calls for little speech or movement.
As horror films go, this one is less noisy and in-your-face than some recent offerings have been. It's also not as scary. It goes more for the psychological creepout, the atmospheric chill, than for gore or violence. Though it does lapse into conventionality near the end, the film ultimately redeems itself with an unsentimental finale that satisfies, even if it's not entirely unexpected.
