The Skeleton Key (2005)

Disclaimer: Original The Skeleton Key review was posted June 12, 2022 and updated August 4, 2025.

On the surface The Skeleton Key (2005) comes off as an average horror thriller film of the time, taking audiences along to question the main character’s sanity and if supernatural elements could be the root cause. Kate Hudson portraying Caroline Ellis is a 25 year old who recently lost her father unexpectedly while pursuing the roadie tour life which is the reason for her sudden change to working in the hospice industry. At the start of The Skeleton Key Caroline loses a patient that hits particularly close to home when no one arrives to claim his things, a common circumstance of the residents she’s been working with. Disillusioned with the industry but still wanting to pursue nursing school she takes up a position as a live in hospice caregiver in the remote swamps of Louisiana after answering a help wanted ad in the paper. For the pay of $1,000 a week she moves into this mansion to care for Ben Devereaux, the elderly husband of Violet Devereaux, who suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak or move.

Violet portrayed by Gena Rowlands comes across as old fashioned off rip, particularly when she’s introduced to Caroline by the couple’s lawyer Luke Marshall portrayed by Peter Sarsgaard. The couple hired Luke around the same time that Ben, portrayed by John Hurt, had a stroke and he is handling their affairs like hiring hospice care, like Caroline. Caroline learns quickly that she’s the 5th person to come through to help the couple, finding it hard to deal with Violet and leaving the position. She feels a responsibility for Ben that only intensifies as the movie progresses, revealing along the way the strained relationship she had with her father than has upended her life. Her commitment to her deceased father in an attempt to right wrongs she doesn’t commit helps keep her trapped in the boiling pot she’s found herself in, being cooked alive 1 temperature degree at a time until it’s too late. Before this is revealed however the film uses Caroline’s investigation of her weird new employer and their mysterious property coupled with the increasingly bad vibes between her and Violet to make audiences question the plot’s reality similarly to Caroline.

The Skeleton Key (2005) spoilers past this point

Once Caroline has taken the job she drives her red VW bug into the swamps down a tree lined street with Spanish moss adorning the old branches overhead, quintessential Antebellum imagery. Rather than tell her about the house or the property’s history up front Violet only alludes to things being amiss and brushes off Caroline’s questioning about some of her odder habits like stowing away every mirror in the house. Prior to moving into the Devereaux home however Caroline lives with her friend, Jill, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, where she’s moved to from Hoboken, New Jersey following her dad’s death. Jill, portrayed by Joy Bryant, mentions that Caroline’s father would be proud of her striving to help people, particularly the elderly, when she decides to take the position but Jill is also a touchstone to local knowledge for Caroline and thus the audience. When she hears of the location she is immediately taken aback, making sure to note the swamp context of the area.

After giving a tour and her responsibilities Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key to the house, harkening back to the title of the film, but she quickly discovers through snooping around in the attic that the key doesn’t open a door hidden behind bookshelves. Her attention is drawn to it when it starts rattling after Violet sends her up there to fetch a type of seed for her garden but ultimately she leaves the door closed but mentions it to Violet. Violet is visibly disturbed by Caroline’s questioning and seems hesitant to provide answers, making it seem that whatever the secret is must be rather juicy which peaks Caroline’s fascination even more. Having found a sheet one night with “help me” written in mud on it after she finds Ben on the roof in the rain just before he jumps off of it she tries to ring the alarm bells to Luke. He’s rather dismissive and makes his stance rather clear that he believes Violet has a right to do what she thinks is best when it comes to her husband, even if Caroline disagrees.

Not deterred in the slightest Caroline decides to investigate the attic herself and she decides to use a bobby pin to try and pick the attic door lock. Having been told by Violet that her and Ben had never opened the door since they purchased the home she’s a bit shocked to pull out a piece of key that perfectly matches a piece of the skeleton key she has. After she removes this bit she reenters her own key that has the piece still intact and is able to unlock it, releasing a gust of dust and must from the closed space. She finds all kinds of witchcraft like materials and old dolls around the attic along with jars of what appears to be dead creatures or organs plus a box of old records. They look custom recorded and one sleeve catches her eye for the symbol on it and she decides to take this one. She narrowly escapes without getting caught with the record and goes to listen to it back at her New Orleans apartment.

The record says it’s made by Papa Justify, portrayed by Ronald McCall, and is the recording of a sacrifice ritual which Caroline loads up and begins listening to. She is entranced but spooked by the sacrifice ritual she’s listening to on the record and is only snapped out of it by Jill. Out that night Jill again provides local knowledge and tells Caroline what hoodoo is and where she can find a practitioner, Jill’s family member. Despite her knowledge however she wants nothing to do with the mystic and warns Caroline to leave it alone also. After the attic incident Violet opens up to Caroline about the property’s history and former residents which sheds some light on what Caroline found in the attic. She makes a point to say throughout her tale that it’s just a retelling and that she was never told the story from the brother and sister they purchased the home from in 1962. Violet explains that in the early 1900’s a wealthy family lived on the property with their 2 young children and 2 servants, Papa Justify and Mama Cecile, portrayed by Jeryl Prescott. One night they throw a party and when they can’t find the children the drunk party guests search the estate for them but discover them in the attic with both Justify and Cecile.

When the party guests open the attic door the kids are in the center of a candle ring, the room clearly set up for some sort of ritual and the both servants are convulsing in a trance state. The guests instantly become an angry mob and drag Justify and Cecile out to the yard and lynch them in one of the trees. They light both on fire and the incident is known in the area for the cruelty of the people who lynched the servants. The children went on to then sell the house to the couple in 1962, Violet and Ben, after their family’s bank had fallen on hard times and then died shortly after while in care homes. She explains that her and Ben just left the room as is and have respect for the ghosts of Justify and Cecile that they say roam the property and are still the owners of that room. She tells Caroline the reason for the mirrors being stowed is that you can see the ghosts moving around in them.

Caroline decides that despite not believing in hoodoo herself there might be some benefit to the mind body connection and Ben believing that ghosts have cast a spell on him could mean that the solution to his ailment is spell work he believes in. After he has a convulsion attack when she shows him a mirror she is convinced that if she can complete a protection ritual on him he won’t be in a comatose state and can tell people what Violet is doing to him, thus saving him. When she does complete the ritual he’s able to speak and tells her to help him and get him out of there so she goes to talk to Luke about the situation. She hopes he’ll have more information or back her up but instead he seems hesitant to get involved past being their estate attorney and answering Caroline’s questions. It is revealed when she finally goes to him with what she feels is proof and Ben hidden in the garden shed to keep him away from Violet that Luke is actually Papa Justify.

Caroline sees beginner law books at his apartment right before finding the same ring that was Justify’s in his desk drawer. He confirms her fears when he chokes her out and takes her back to the property to finish whatever him and Violet have planned. Caroline still doesn’t get it when she goes back to the house and ends up walking directly into the trap they’ve set for her despite Violet having fallen down the stairs and being severely injured. Caroline performs a spell that Violet slipped to her that she believes will protect her but what it actually does is trap her in the center of the attic where they intend to perform the sacrifice. She realizes far too late that she is the sacrifice and not Ben like she’d been so worried about and Violet informs her that everything is only possible because she believes in the magic now and that they’ve been working to get her to that place so that it would work.

Violet successfully steals Caroline’s body and it’s revealed that Violet is actually Mama Cecile and that both her and Justify are just stealing the next set of bodies in their line. Both of them had switched places with the children who were the ones actually lynched and burned by their family. Having survived as the siblings the couple then took on the lives and identities of Violet and Ben, the couple that purchased the home from them which they’d inherited after the sibling’s parents pass away. Now that Violet and Ben are aging they have scouted and found people that they can swap places with. Once switched into Caroline’s body Cecile laments she wanted Justify to find her a Black body this time but he notes that Black people don’t stay at the job when things get spooky, calling back to a Black nurse earlier who was shocked Caroline was even still messing with the Devereaux couple based on her experiences with them.

Ultimately Justify and Cecile are 2 Black characters that don’t have real lines and are more used as a prop for the white actors on screen rather than the actual main characters. This movie is a weird one in that it’s about Black people sort of but also definitely made by and for white American audiences. Black people are used as the Magical Negro trope throughout the movie and it leaves an uneasy feeling that not only are Black people erased in real life but also in fictional life also. The flashes of Cecile and Justify looking menacingly in the estate are almost all the viewer gets about them that isn’t shared from a white actor. It feels like a way to take advantage of Black stories without dealing with Black people or any of the caveats that racists don’t want to deal with. The culture is interesting but the real people are not savory enough for their vision.

I don’t hate this movie but it is a hard one for me to enjoy while I watch Kate Hudson be inappropriately dressed for her job as a live in caregiver and then perfectly done up despite living in the Bayou. Belief cannot be suspended enough to fully enjoy the film but Gena Rowlands provides a performance worthwhile, possibly the main saving grace of the film. The Skeleton Key can be a bit spooky at times but the scares never reach past haunted nightmares unless the travesty of stealing life is enough spook to keep you. Again, don’t hate this movie, but also don’t believe it should be anywhere near any lists about Black horror despite it usually making an appearance.