Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci) is killed in a terrible car crash after getting into a big argument with her boyfriend Paul (Justin Long). But when she happens to wake up in a funeral parlor, she doesn't believe she's really dead. Funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) explains it to her, telling her that the recently dead are in an in between world for a few days after their death, where they can still walk and talk. Eliot, however, is the only one with the ability to see and interact with these recently dead. Anna accepts this explanation, and takes Eliot's help in preparing herself for her truly dead state, which will occur in a few days. In the meantime, Paul begins to suspect things aren't as they seem, and begins to suspect that Eliot is up to something sinister.