The gift

Suomitxt

In the town of Brixton, Georgia, widow Annie Wilson is a clairvoyant fortune-teller who has visions of her late grandmother. After Jessica King, the promiscuous fiancée of the local school's principal, Wayne Collins, disappears, Annie receives a vision revealing that Jessica has been killed and her body thrown into a pond.

She informs local sheriff Pearl Johnson of her vision, and despite his skepticism, Johnson searches a pond at the home of Donnie Barksdale, the abusive husband of one of Annie's clients, Valerie. Donnie has repeatedly threatened Annie and her three children after Annie advised Valerie to leave him, accusing Annie of being a witch and telling her and her children that she will burn in hell. Valerie permits the search while Donnie is absent, but he returns while the search is proceeding. The police find Jessica's body in the pond and Donnie is arrested for her murder.

Buddy Cole, a mentally ill acquaintance of Annie's, bursts into tears while giving her a lift home. She gives him a washcloth that her husband used to carry. Buddy wipes his face with it and doesn't give it back. Buddy harbors a hatred for his father and later tries to explain to Annie why, but Annie is preoccupied and refuses to listen. That evening, Buddy's mother calls Annie to come to their house, as Buddy has snapped and has his father bound to a chair. Buddy sets his father on fire, and it is revealed that Buddy's father sexually abused him as a child. Buddy is arrested and taken to a mental hospital.

During Donnie's trial for Jessica's murder, it is revealed that they had an affair. Donnie is convicted and sent to prison. Later, Annie receives more visions revealing that Donnie is innocent and that someone else wants to kill her. She asks prosecutor David Duncan to reopen the case. After Duncan declines, Annie counters that if he does not do so, she will reveal David and Jessica's affair, which she witnessed. Duncan attempts to bribe Annie in exchange for her silence, but Annie refuses.

Annie tells Wayne that Donnie is not responsible for Jessica's death and that Duncan will not reopen the investigation. At Wayne's suggestion, he and Annie drive out to the pond at night, where Annie learns from a vision that Wayne is actually the murderer. Wayne confesses to Annie that he was angry after he discovered that Jessica was cheating on him with Donnie and she was callous about it. Wayne attempts to kill Annie by striking her in the head with a flashlight, but Buddy appears and knocks him out. Annie and Buddy lock the unconscious Wayne in the trunk of Annie's car. Buddy tells Annie that he escaped from the mental hospital and hands her a washcloth to wipe her tears.

The two drive to the police station. Annie tells Buddy that he will have to return to the hospital, and he waits in the car while she enters the station. When she returns to the car with the police, Buddy has disappeared. Annie explains to Johnson what happened at the pond, but he informs her that Buddy could not have aided her as he had died by suicide at the mental hospital earlier that day. Annie reaches into her pocket and pulls out the freshly laundered washcloth Buddy gave her to wipe her tears. Annie returns home and looks at photographs of her late husband Ben that her oldest son holds as he falls asleep each night. The next morning, she and her sons are at his grave, mourning his premature death