Film na motívy klasickej knižky Frances Hodgson-Burnettovej rozpráva príbeh malej Mary, ktorá je nútená tráviť nejaký čas u strýka na vidieku. Potom, ako sa zabýva v tomto vidieckom dome, objavuje Mary, jej invalidný bratranec Colin a miestny chlapec Dickson zamknutú a opustenú záhradu. Vďaka svojmu priateľstvu a starostlivosti vracajú tomuto skrytému miestu krásu a život a chorému chlapcovi zdravie.
Set against the backdrop of a beautiful garden in the heart of London, this contemporary fairy tale revolves around the unlikely friendship between a reclusive young woman and a cantankerous old widower. Bella Brown is a beautifully quirky young woman who dreams of writing and illustrating a successful children’s book. After she is forced by her landlord to deal with her neglected garden or face eviction, she meets her match, nemesis, and unlikely mentor in Alfie Stephenson, a grumpy, loveless, old man who lives next door who happens to be an amazing horticulturalist.
When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about.
David Cardew, a talented sculptor, lives an idyllic life in the English countryside with his wife, Laura, and their two children. But his happiness spoils as he becomes increasingly fixated on the idea that Laura is having an affair with a young cellist, Anton Falk. The three attend a fête where David watches Anton and Laura during a ballet about brutal and violent revenge - and his obsession begins to take an even darker turn....