In 1887, at age 23, reporter Nellie Bly, working for Joseph Pulitzer, feigns mental illness to go undercover in notorious Blackwell's Island a woman's insane asylum to expose corruption, abuse and murder.

A young man working at a cinema on a special premiere night, finds that the films being shown are full of strange and eerie occurrences.

After a young couple take in their two nieces, they suspect that a supernatural spirit named Mama has latched onto their family.