In 1962, Eve Batiste, a 10-year-old girl, lives in a prosperous
Creole-American community in
Louisiana with her 9-year-old brother Poe and her 14-year-old sister Cisely. Their father Louis,
a well-respected doctor in Louisiana's African American community, claims descent from the French aristocrat Jean Paul Batiste, who founded the town of Eve's Bayou and named it after the slave woman whose medicinal abilities cured him of a severe case of cholera. One night after a raucous party, Eve accidentally witnesses her father having sex with Matty Mereaux, a family friend. However, Cisely, who has a very affectionate relationship with her father, convinces Eve that she misinterpreted an innocent moment. The summer quickly becomes chaotic and stressful for the Batiste family. Eve's relationship with her parents becomes more strained as she discovers more evidence of her father's serial infidelity. Cisely comes into conflict with both Eve and their mother Roz as she enters puberty and tries to navigate the difficult transition to adulthood, particularly with regard to her appearance and sexuality. Roz eventually begins to suspect her husband's infidelity, prompting conflict between the two as well. Eve often seeks refuge with her aunt Mozelle, a
hoodoo practitioner with a neighborhood reputation as "The Black Widow". Eve, who also has the spiritual gift of sight, has a premonitory dream shortly before an accident occurs that claims Mozelle's third husband. Mozelle's gift also brings her into direct conflict with Elzora, a fortuneteller and possible witch with similar abilities. When Roz visits her for a reading, Elzora implies that an unexpected "solution" to her problem will arise, but to wait and look to her children in the meantime. When Mozelle grudgingly makes a similar request, Elzora forces her to confront the truth she has been denying. Meanwhile, Eve, frustrated by her father's infidelity, begins to act out, bringing her into conflict with her other family members. Cisely begins acting strangely as well, isolating herself from her family after experiencing her first period. Cisely later confides in Eve the secret behind her strange mood: one night, after their parents had a vicious argument, Cisely went to comfort her father and he, while intoxicated, attempted to molest her. Enraged, Eve seeks out Elzora to commission a voodoo spell that will put a fatal curse on her father. En route to Elzora's residence, Eve encounters Lenny Mereaux and questions him about his teaching job that keeps him away from home. In the conversation, she alludes to a possible tryst between his wife Matty and her father. When Eve finally arrives at Elzora's home, she finds her to be not as malevolent as she expected but rather normal instead. Expecting to receive a voodoo doll of her father, she is instead simply told that the curse has been placed per her request. With regret, and in an attempt to save her father, Eve rushes to bring him home after finding him in a bar speaking with Matty Mereaux. Simultaneously, a drunken Lenny arrives to take Matty home. After a confrontation, Lenny and Matty depart, and Lenny tells Louis that he will kill him if he talks to Matty again. After Louis bids farewell to Matty, Lenny shoots and kills Louis. After returning home from her father's funeral, Eve discovers a letter among her father's belongings that he composed and addressed to Mozelle. Reading it aloud, she learns that her father disputed the accusations, claiming that Cisely had approached him the night of the incident and kissed him, first as a daughter and then as a lover. While intoxicated, he violently slapped her and pushed her to the ground, infuriating her. Confronting Cisely, Eve attempts to use her second sight and discover what really happened. While she is able to confirm that Cisely kissed Louis, the rest of the vision—like Cisely's memory of the night—is fragmented. The sisters burn the letter and discard it into the bayou before standing together and holding hands, gazing at the sunset. ==Cast==