- Open with housewife finding her young daughter dying, brutally beten. Her anguish evident, she's inconsolable, blames herself
- Flashback to the daughter and her love for the mother but fear of Aunt X., who secretly torments her
- We see mother being led away in handcuffs, her head bowed
- Flashback to mother's childhood and abuse by her mother which led her to develop two personalities, one with very specific tics/characteristics (not necessarily physical, she could have arranged the house differently). One of which eventually killed her own daughter
Add to this: the personality of Aunt X. may have been a way for the mother to act out her sexy, uninhibited, rebellious side in which she was immune to the carried pain of her childhood and an absent, philandering husband. And just so, the daughter may have begun to develop an alternate personality as well to cope with Aunt X. (meek, acquiescent, the docile conflict-avoiding child).