British socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, in a desperate attempt to gain inspiration for a new book he is writing, invites local medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance. The scheme backfires when Madame Arcati inadvertently summons Charles's first wife, Elvira, who has been dead for seven years. Only Charles can see or hear her and his current wife, Ruth, does not believe that Elvira exists and that Charles is losing his mind. But after experiencing some bizarre occurrences (thanks to Elvira), Ruth accepts the strange truth. Elvira makes continued and desperate attempts to disrupt Charles and Ruth's marriage and then things get complicated. And what follows is a darkly funny competition between two women, one dead, one living, as they battle for the possession of their husband ... fun and farce abound!