Will Atenton, a successful
editor for a
New York City publishing house, quits his job to focus on writing a book while spending more time with his wife Libby and their young daughters, Trish and Dee Dee. The family is initially happy to live in their Fairfield County "dream house" near the forest. Soon, they grow uneasy because of a series of unsettling events. It all seems to tie to a crime committed in the house five years earlier, when a man named Peter Ward apparently murdered his wife and two children and was committed to a mental hospital from which he has been recently released due to lack of evidence. Will approaches his neighbor Ann for help, but she is apprehensive, while her estranged husband Jack is outright hostile. Will visits the facility where Peter Ward was housed, and discovers that he is actually Peter Ward. During the attack that claimed the lives of his wife and daughters, Peter was shot in the head, so he has no memories of the murders. In order to cope with the grief, he fabricated a
delusion in which his family is still alive and created a new identity based on his inpatient ID band "W1-1L 8-10-10". Once dismissed, Peter moved back to his abandoned house, which is now
condemned, but in Peter's mind, is still unspoiled. Peter is forcibly removed from the dilapidated house by authorities and taken in by Ann, who believes in his innocence. Peter ultimately discovers that he did not kill his wife and children; it was a local man named Boyce, who broke in and shot Peter's family. Libby, while aiming at Boyce, accidentally shot Peter. Peter and Ann are attacked by Jack, who reveals that he had hired Boyce to kill Ann five years earlier in retaliation for divorcing him and to obtain full custody of their daughter, Chloe. However, Boyce went to the wrong house and mistakenly killed Peter's family. Aided by Boyce, Jack decides to kill Ann himself and set the house on fire, framing Peter. He also shoots Boyce to eliminate him as a witness and as punishment for his mistake. Peter overpowers Jack and saves Ann with the help of Libby, who is revealed to be a spirit, as are their daughters, and not Peter's mental projection. Jack burns to death when he tries to escape. Peter says goodbye to the spirits of his wife and children. Sometime later, Peter has returned to New York and published a best-selling book called
Dream House, in which he recounts his tragic experiences. ==Cast==