Kate (Vera Farmiga) and husband John Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard) are having a hard time of things. After their third child is stillborn, they struggle with problems that have been facing them, including Kate's drinking problem that cost her her job. When the couple decides to adopt a 9 year old Russian girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), their current children are split on the decision. Daughter Max (Aryana Engineer) takes to Esther quickly, while Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) is less sure about the new arrival. As Esther begins to show some odd personality traits, other things start happening around her. Is young Esther really the sweet young orphan that Kate and John thought, or does she have a darker secret to reveal?