Plot Summary
Widowed Psychologist David Callaway (Robert De Niro) and his daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning), with whom he shares a troubled relationship, move after Emily's mother, Allison (Amy Irving), apparently commits suicide. David meets local woman Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue) and her niece, Amy, who is roughly the same age as Emily. Hoping to cultivate a new friendship for Emily, David sets up a play-date for her. The play-date is spoiled however when Emily cuts up the face of Amy's doll. Despite the unsuccessful play-date, David and Elizabeth hit it off, though Emily acts in a hostile manner towards her as well.
A family friend, Katherine (Famke Janssen) - herself a fellow psychologist, visits David and Emily to try to help David and talks to Emily about her obsession with Charlie, her only new, imaginary, friend. Later, Elizabeth visits again, hoping to make peace with Emily. When Emily says she is playing hide-and-seek with Charlie, Elizabeth indulges her by pretending to look for him. However, someone pushes Elizabeth out the window to her death. When David asks Emily who did it, once more she blames Charlie, admitting Charlie "made her help him". A distraught David, armed with a knife, goes outside, where he meets his neighbor. He assumes his neighbor is Charlie and cuts him with the knife, after which the suspicious neighbor calls the police.
Back in the house, David finds that, although he had seemingly been in his study many times, the boxes were actually never unpacked. David realizes that he has a split personality and that Charlie is not imaginary at all: Charlie is David himself. Whenever it appeared David was in his study, Charlie was actually in control. David also realizes that under his Charlie personality, he killed his wife and made it appear to be a suicide. He also fully recalls the events of the party the night before his wife's death, where he had caught his wife cheating on him, which triggered David's split personality.
As Charlie, David goes on a killing spree. He viciously attacks the local sheriff and drags his body to the cellar. Emily calls Katherine for help who arrives and is herself attacked by Charlie and thrown in the cellar with the sheriff. A terrified Emily manages to escape the house and knife-wielding Charlie seeking her out, and runs into the cave. Katherine takes the gun from the mortally wounded sheriff and follows Charlie to the cave. Charlie pretends to be David, admits he, not Emily, is sick, then proceeds to viciously attack Katherine. As Charlie threatens Emily, Katherine just manages to kill him.
Sometime later, Emily is preparing for school in her new life with Katherine. However, Emily's drawing of herself with Katherine has two heads, suggesting that she now also suffers from a split personality.
Read more about this topic: Hide And Seek (2005 film)
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