Ten years after the sudden death of her beloved husband Sean, Anna (Nicole Kidman) is finally ready to emerge from the shadow of grief and begin a new chapter in her life. She has agreed to marry Joseph (Danny Huston), a good-humored, cultured man who has patiently courted the lovely young widow for three years. Anna's decision pleases her mother Eleanor (Lauren Bacall), an elegant and commanding woman who has welcomed Joseph into the family's spacious apartment on New York's aristocratic Upper East Side. And it is there that friends and relatives gather one night for Anna and Joseph's engagement party.

The guests include Clifford (Peter Stormare), who was Sean's best friend, and Clifford's wife Clara (Anne Heche). Clara decides their gift is not properly wrapped and sends Clifford up to the party alone. As Clara pauses in the building's marble lobby to ponder her options, her gaze lights on a young boy (Cameron Bright), sitting by himself in an anteroom. Clara soon leaves the building for Central Park, unaware that the boy is following her. When she returns to the apartment building a while later, the boy is back in his place.

Following close on the heels of the engagement party is Eleanor's birthday celebration, an intimate event attended by close family friend Mrs. Hill (Zoe Caldwell). But before the cake can be cut, an uninvited guest appears as if out of nowhere. It is the same young boy, and he wants to speak privately with Anna. Indulging what seems to be a whim, Anna accompanies the child to the kitchen. There, he declares that he is her dead husband Sean and warns her not to marry Joseph.