2005 Movies : Suspense

With Kate Hudson • Scott Stuber • Peter Sarsgaard • Michael Shamberg • Stacey Sher • Joy Bryant • John Hurt • Iain Softley • Daniel Bobker • Ehren Kruger • Clayton Townsend

Set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans, "The Skeleton Key" stars Kate Hudson as Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Gena Rowlands) ailing husband (John Hurt) in their home, a foreboding a decrepit Gothic mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline begins to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret.

With Cillian Murphy • Rachel McAdams • Brian Cox • Kyle Gallner • Daniel Foos • Jim Lemley • Marianne Maddalena • J.C. Spink • Brittany Oaks • Laura Johnson • Tom Elkins • Wes Craven • Chris Bender • Mason Novick • Bonnie Curtis • Carl Ellsworth • Mark Sourian • Marc Haimes

Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) hates to fly, but the terror that awaits her on the night flight to Miami has nothing to do with a fear of flying. Moments after takeoff, Lisa's seatmate, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), menacingly reveals the real reason he's on board: He is an operative in a plot to kill a rich and powerful businessman…and Lisa is the key to its success. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed by an assassin awaiting a call from Jackson. Trapped within the confines of a jet at 30,000 feet, Lisa has nowhere to run and no way to summon help without endangering her father, her fellow passengers and her own life. As the miles tick by, Lisa knows she is running out of time as she desperately looks for a way to thwart her ruthless captor and stop a terrible murder.

Moments after takeoff, Lisa's seatmate, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), menacingly reveals the real reason he's on board: He is an operative in a plot to kill a rich and powerful businessman…and Lisa is the key to its success. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed by an assassin awaiting a call from Jackson. Trapped within the confines of a jet at 30,000 feet, Lisa has nowhere to run and no way to summon help without endangering her father, her fellow passengers and her own life. As the miles tick by, Lisa knows she is running out of time as she desperately looks for a way to thwart her ruthless captor and stop a terrible murder.

With Sean Harris • Ian McKellen • Hugh Bonneville • David MacKenzie • Rhydian Jones • Marton Csokas • Patrick Marber • John Buchanan • Chris Curling • Natasha Richardson • Amy Horton • Peter Yates • Mace Neufeld • David E. Allen • Bruce McNall • Harmon Kaslow • Steve Markoff • Baron Davis • Robert Rehme

Stella Raphael, a cultured and elegant but restless young woman, lives with her husband, Max, a forensic psychiatrist, and their small son, Charlie, at a high-security mental hospital in rural England. Isolated from the urban excitement she craves, Stella is unhappy with her husband and her life, and when she comes into contact with the brilliant and attractive sculptor Edgar Stark, a patient who is engaged in rebuilding the asylum's decrepit Victorian conservatory, she begins to fall in love. Her discovery that Edgar was confined to the hospital after he brutally murdered and disfigured his wife in a psychotic, jealous rage fails to deter Stella from her growing passion, and eventually her love for Edgar is pitted against her husband, her child, the institution, and the entire fabric of her society. Finally Stella makes her choice, precipitating an appalling tragedy and changing the course of several lives.