Karl Kopfrkingl works at a stately crematorium in Prague. Obsessed with his duties, he believes he is liberating the souls of the departed. With Nazi forces gathering at the Czech border, Karl descends into a mania that allows him to wholly enact his disturbed beliefs.

After her husband's death, Eliska and her daughter move to a rural village in hopes of a fresh start. But it is not long before they hear the troubling tales of the mysterious woman who haunts the surrounding farm fields and abducts children in broad daylight. At first Eliska dismisses the rumors as a deranged fantasy. But when her daughter starts to show signs of abnormal and erratic behavior, Eliska realizes her new home is not safe.