SYNOPSIS

Baghdad, 2003. British war correspondent Kate Rafter is sheltering from gunfire, trying to protect a young boy named Nidal. But in the one moment she takes her eyes off him he flees, straight into a fatal explosion.

A few weeks later, Kate returns to her hometown of Herne Bay following the unexpected death of her mother. Her estranged sister Sally’s cold and hostile welcome confirms her fears that a return to the place she has spent her life escaping from will be painful.

Living in her childhood home surrounded by relics of her abusive childhood causes Kate’s mental state to deteriorate. Haunting nightmares of Nidal and vivid flashbacks to her youth begin to encroach on her everyday life and she can’t shake the feeling that she’s being followed. She attempts to confront her past with her psychiatrist Dr Shaw, but finds no relief. When she hears cries in the night, she becomes convinced that a child is being abused next door - but her neighbor Frida denies having children and the police can’t find any evidence to prove Kate’s theory. So, when she sees glimpses of a shadowy child-like figure in the garden, Kate begins to question what is real and what is in simply in her mind.

Sally, meanwhile, is struggling to come to terms with the departure of her 23-year-old daughter Hannah, who cut ties with her and emigrated to Australia five years ago. She sinks deeper and deeper into alcoholism, relying on her devoted husband and Hannah’s stepfather, Paul, to hold her life together. Sally blames Kate for their traumatic childhood and refuses to engage with Kate’s feelings about their parents, but some shocking news causes her to reflect on their shared past. She vows to get sober, but with a clearer mind she is able to confront realities that she couldn’t – or didn’t want – to see before. After she bumps into Hannah’s ex-boyfriend Joe, she begins to question Hannah’s real motivation for leaving and determines to find out the truth. But when she unearths a dark secret, the two sisters’ lives are brought together in an unimaginable and devastating way.