Plot: John Klein (Richard Gere), an investigative reporter with the national affairs desk of the Washington Post, begins to investigate purported strange occurrences in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. His investigation is not part of his work for the Post, but rather his own personal mission as he gets caught in the middle of those strange occurrences, starting with the fact that he has no recollection of the few hours prior to arriving in Point Pleasant for the first time, or even why he ended up there. Sheriff Connie Mills (Laura Linney) is his point person in Point Pleasant, as residents have reported those strange and inexplicable occurrences to her for investigation. Those occurrences include people hallucinating, receiving phantom telephone calls, and hearing mysterious voices. The investigation becomes even more personal for John when he learns that some have suffered physical maladies, but that the primary strange issue is sightings of a large mysterious winged creature. The connection to John is that his now-deceased wife Mary (Debra Messing), who died two years ago from a rare form of brain tumor, had similar visions of these winged creatures just before she and John got into a serious car accident, which happened just before she got her terminal cancer diagnosis. John eventually learns from a man named Alexander Leek (Sir Alan Bates), a past researcher in the field, that sightings of the winged creature, a mothman, has been a prophesy for some disaster to happen. Believing what Leek tells him, but dismissing Leek's warnings not to investigate any further, John tries to discover what the disaster is going to be before it happens, and if he can do anything either to prevent it, or to minimize the destruction, especially to human life, including his own. In light of what's happening, any of John's beliefs on what is the disaster to be is may come across as rantings of a crazed lunatic to anyone who matters.
Alternative Plot: From the director of Arlington Road comes a spine-tingling, super-natural thriller based on actual events that will rattle your nerves and shake your beliefs. Distraught by the sudden, tragic death of his wife (Debra Messing), John Klein (Richard Gere), a journalist for The Washington Post, finds himself mysteriously drawn to a small West Virginia town when his car inexplicably strands him. Rescued by the sympathetic but skeptical local police sergeant (Laura Linney), he soon learns that many of the town's residents have been beset by bizarre events, including sightings of an eerie "moth-like" entity, similar to the one seen by his late wife. Investigating further and having his own terrifying encounters with the creature, he becomes obsessed with the idea that this supernatural being can predict impending calamities and is trying to warn the town of one. Is this a psychic delusion brought on by his grief or can he convince the police sergeant that there's a tragedy that must be averted? His life, and potentially others' lives, depend on his making the right choice before time runs out.
Rate this movie!