Summaries

Synopsis

Covington is a 19th-century Pennsylvania village isolated from the world. The woods surrounding the village are off limits to all the villagers because of monsters that reside in the jungle. Years earlier, the elders and the creatures reached an understanding that the villagers would not go into the woods, and the creatures would not enter the village. The monsters indicate their presence by howling sounds coming from the jungle and skinned carcasses of small animals thrown in the village from time to time. The children of the village are taught that the monsters are meat eaters and have large claws.The village's boundary with the jungle is clearly marked and lit at night with lampposts. Despite numerous alarming incidents, the elders are clear that their boundaries have not been breached. Villagers wear cloaks of the safe color (mustard), while the monsters wear cloaks of the red color.

One elder August Nicholson (Brendan Gleeson) loses his son to an incurable disease. Another young man Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) asks permission to go to "towns" to bring back medicine to cure the mental ailments of Noah Percy (Arien Brody). His request is denied. The elders are very clear about not violating the rules of the village. The villagers live a very simple life, which is devoid of any technology of any kind.

Kitty Walker (Judy Greer) wants to marry Lucius, but Lucius is friends with Kitty's blind sister, Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard). Ivy says that Lucius has a 'color' around him, that she can sense. Ivy says that she knows that Lucius has had feelings for her ever since they were both kids.Noah brings berries that grow only in woods. Lucius believes that if creatures have not harmed Noah (presumably because of his innocence), they won't harm him too.Lucius's mother Alice (Sigourney Weaver) is an elder & asks him to refrain, but Lucius wants her to open a black box that every elder has & contains secrets from their past before they became elders.

Lucius enters the wood on a patrol & returns. That night creatures enter the village & Lucius saves Ivy from being attacked. Lucius admits to his mistake in the town-hall meeting, but the elders forgive him for his transgressions.The creature's actions grow more desperate, but they haven't hurt anyone yet. The villagers send meat tributes for the monsters, left at the edge of the jungle for their consumption.The villagers are interviewed one by one by the elders to ascertain their versions of the monsters and to determine truth from exaggeration.

Lucius & Ivy decide to marry, but Noah stabs Lucius & is locked away.Ivy wants to go to "the towns" to bring back medicine to save Lucius. Her father Edwards (William Hurt) takes her side in front of the elders. Many elders do not agree with Edward's decision and remind him that he has also taken an oath to renounce the outside world.Before Ivy leaves, Edward tells her about his wealthy father's murder. Edward feels that his father was murdered because he stayed in the village and would have survived had he left, when he had the time.He then admits the creatures are actually the elders disguised as the monsters to perpetuate the legend so they can scare and deter younger members from leaving. Edwards claims that the creatures in the woods are modeled on one the history books he used to teach when he was in "The towns". The skinned carcasses were thrown in villages by the elders who took turns. Edwards says that every elder in the village has experienced a loss so deep in their life, that they questioned their own life. He believes that by denying Ivy the chance to save Lucius, the elders will subject her to the same pain that they themselves escaped from. Edwards gives Ivy some money to buy the medicines.

Edwards then goes & explains his action to other elders & says that elders won't live forever & Ivy & Lucius will keep their legacy alive. Ivy embarks on her journey (she is provided with 2 escorts who soon abandon her at the first sign of danger. The escorts had argued that if the monsters attacked, they would kill the boys first, rather than attacking a blind girl) & is attacked by a creature. She knows it is not real (it is Noah in costume), when she reached a field full of red berries.She tricks him into falling into a ditch (that she had encountered on her way into the jungle) which kills him. Ivy soon finds herself come to a large wall. Carefully, she begins to climb over. As she does, several of the village elders open their locked black boxes. Contained within our mementos of their past life. It is soon apparent that Covington only has the appearance of being in the 19th century. The actual time is the present day.

The village of Covington came about as an idea by Edward Walker. After his father was murdered by a business partner, Walker joined a support group for others who had lost their loved ones to violence to start a small, isolated village, to insulate the members of the group from further harm or loss. Walker's father was very wealthy, and Edward had the village built deep in the interior of the Walker Wildlife Preserve. A large wall surrounds the preserve, and precautions are made to keep airplanes from flying overhead as well, to keep up the illusion of the village being a rural and rustic place.

Ivy is startled by vehicles & strange noises but is greeted with kindness by strangers who help her get the medicines. The man gets the medicines & help her climb back over the wall.Edwards believes that Ivy's encounter with the creature must have made her believe that creatures do exist & that Edwards pep talk was just to make her get courage for her perilous journey.

The elders gather around Lucius's bed after learning that Ivy has returned and that a monster (Noah) was killed. Edward comforts Noah's grieving parents by saying that his death will enable them to continue the farce that creatures inhabit the woods.