After several years abroad, Helena Alving's (Lily Rabe) son, Oswald (Levon Hawke), has returned home from Paris, carrying with him an untold burden. As Helena works to build an orphanage in honor of her late husband, whose disreputable past has cast a long shadow over the family, she and Oswald become entangled with Pastor Manders (Billy Crudup), housemaid Regina (Ella Beatty), and Regina's father Engstrand (Hamish Linklater), each guarding their own private deceptions.