Two Words as the Key

The Skeleton Key is a 2005 American supernatural folk horror film directed by Iain Softley and starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The screenplay by Ehren Kruger follows a New Orleans hospice nurse who begins a job at a Terrebonne Parish plantation home and becomes entangled in a mystery involving the house, its former inhabitants, and Hoodoo rites that took place there. The Skeleton Key was released by Universal Pictures on July 29, 2005 in the United Kingdom and August 12, 2005 in the United States. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $94 million on a budget of $43 million.