A reporter is drawn to a small West Virginia town to investigate a series of strange events, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.
John Klein (Richard Gere) is involved in a car accident with his wife, but while he is unharmed, his wife mentions a moth-shaped creature appearing. After her death, John begins to investigate the secrets behind this mentioned Mothman. It takes him to the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where he discovers a connection with the same problem. Here he meets Connie Mills (Laura Linney), while he continues to unravel the mystery of what the Mothman really is.—simon
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.—Huggo
When John Klein (Richard Gere), a Washington Post journalist, and his wife Mary (Debra Messing) finally find the house of their dreams, they just can't believe their luck. On the way back from the bargain, Mary nearly runs over a caped, winged figure, jerks the wheel and skids onto the sidewalk. She hits her head badly, and dies in the hospital a little while later. John, completely devastated, soon finds some sketches his wife made after the accident. They all show a winged creature, yet there is no angel resemblance at all. Two years later, John all of a sudden finds himself one night in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He has no idea how he has journeyed the four hundred miles in less than two hours. In the small town, local Sheriff Connie Mills (Laura Linney) struggles with many sightings of a mothlike creature taller than a man being reported, while John believes that an explanation for his wife's fate can be found. The deeper John digs, the clearer the mothman's purpose arises, only to leave his life in immediate danger, so it seems.—Julian Reischl <[email protected]>
Newspaper columnist John Klein (Gere) and his wife Mary (Messing) are involved in a car accident. Mary, the driver of the vehicle, swerves her car to avoid hitting something in the road. A brain scan reveals a tumor and she subsequently passes away. Later, John discovers an assortment of mysterious drawings which she created before her death, depicting a strange black winged creature she saw on the night of the accident.
Two years later, while driving to Richmond, Virginia, Klein gets lost and inexplicably finds himself far away in the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Klein's car breaks down, as he makes his way to a nearby house on foot to contact help. The owner of the house, Gordon Smallwood (Patton), reacts violently to Klein's appearance and holds him at gun point. Local police officer Connie Mills (Linney) defuses the situation while Smallwood explains that this is the third night in a row that Klein has knocked on his door asking to use a phone, much to the confusion of Klein. Klein ends up staying at a local motel and tries to figure out how he ended up lost from his original destination.
Officer Mills mentions to Klein that many strange things have been occurring in the past few weeks within Point Pleasant. While conversing with Smallwood one day, it is revealed to Klein that he had heard voices from his sink telling him that in Denver, 99 will die. Scared that Smallwood has the same ailment that contributed to his wife's death, Klein takes him to a doctor to get checked out. Smallwood is found to have a migraine, but no serious medical condition. While discussing the day's events at a local diner, Klein notices that the news is showing a story on an airplane crash in Denver that killed all 99 passengers aboard. The next night, Smallwood frantically explains that he had met the voices in his head. The being is named Indrid Cold.
Later that night, Smallwood calls Klein and says that he is standing with Indrid Cold. While Klein keeps Cold on the line, Officer Mills goes out to check on Smallwood. Cold answers Klein's questions, convincing him that he is a supernatural being. This episode starts a string of supernatural calls to Klein's motel room. One of these phone calls tells Klein that there will be a great tragedy on the Ohio River. Later, Klein receives a call from Smallwood and rushes to check on him. He finds Smallwood dead from exposure to the elements.
The entity described as the Mothman becomes a personal obsession for Klein. He meets an expert on the subject, Alexander Leek (Bates), who explains the nature of the supernatural being and details his own experience with it. As Klein reaches the bridge into town, there is traffic congestion originating from a malfunctioning traffic light. As Klein walks onto the bridge to investigate further, the bolts and supports of the bridge begin to strain at the weight. The bridge starts to come apart, making Klein realize that the tragedy that was prophesised to him was in fact the bridge. As the bridge collapes, Officer Mill's car falls into the water below. Klein jumps in after her and pulls her from the river and up to safety. As the two sit on the back of an ambulance, they see that they have just survived the collapse of the Silver Bridge. The epilogue displays a series of graphics stating that the cause of the bridge collapse was never fully determined. It also states that although the Mothman has been sighted in other parts of the world, it was never seen again in Point Pleasant.
