The Thirteenth Tale 2013

Biographer Margaret Lea [Olivia Colman] arrives at the country house of the famous novelist [Vida Winter] [Vanessa Redgrave], invited to stay long enough to help finalize a biography before Vida’s death from cancer. Margaret, cautious by nature, asks for verification from public records before trusting Vida’s memories, and Vida agrees to share what she believes is the truth about her past. The story she unfolds begins with a claim that her birth name was Adeline March, and she supports her tale with a key-shaped burn on her palm—the supposed proof of a fire that burned down her family home when she was seventeen.

Vida’s recollections transport us to Angelfield, a decaying family estate where she grew up alongside her identical twin sister Emmeline. Their mother Isabelle endures abuse at the hands of her brother Charlie, leaving the girls largely to their own devices, watched over only by the household staff known as the Missus and John-the-dig. A governess named Hester Barrow arrives, but her influence is limited; she and a local doctor discuss separating the sisters as an experiment to see if distance could improve their behavior. The attempt backfires, as both Adeline, who stops speaking, and Emmeline, who sobs constantly, are deeply heartbroken by the forced division. Tension at Angelfield intensifies when Hester and the doctor are discovered kissing and vanish from the village, rumored to have fled to America.

As the twins reach seventeen, Isabelle dies in the asylum and Charlie vanishes soon after. The Missus and John-the-dig agree to keep quiet about what happened, so life at Angelfield continues as usual. Adeline discovers Charlie’s body in the woods, but she says nothing to the others. The pair of staff members later die in accidents—Missus falls from three flights of stairs, and John-the-dig slips from an unstable ladder. Although these events appear accidental, Adeline senses foul play and chooses to shield others by telling a misleading tale—that Charlie is simply on holiday in Peru. Ambrose, a boy hired by John after Missus dies, helps perpetuate the lie.

Margaret’s investigations are interrupted by a sense of danger as she explores Angelfield and is briefly frightened away by an unseen presence. The person is later identified as Aurelius Love, a quiet man who sometimes camps out near the estate. When Vida inquires about her own life, Margaret reveals a painful parallel: she, too, once had an identical twin who was fatally struck by a car when they were children, a loss she has never forgiven.

In the nights that follow, Margaret hears crying and the sound of a woman in white wandering the garden. She confronts the figure and asks what she wants, only to witness Vida enter the room to feed the mysterious visitor. The twist becomes clear: there were never two girls at Angelfield, but three. Vida confirms the revelation, explaining that she is not Adeline but perhaps the child of Charlie, hidden from the world by her guardians after her mother abandoned her at the estate. The two staff members kept Vida’s existence a secret, for she was likely the product of a terrible crime. The real Adeline proved dangerously violent and jealous of Emmeline’s attention, and she even pushed Missus down the stairs and tampered with John-the-dig’s ladder to ensure his death.

Ambrose’s presence had helped cover up Adeline’s behavior, and the revelation that he and Emmeline had become involved leads Vida to confront the consequences. Vida has safeguarded Emmeline, who now dwells in a state of fragile madness as the “woman in white” in the garden. Despite these burdens, Vida feels compelled to care for Emmeline.

Aurelius Love—someone Vida’s doctor warned Margaret about—reappears as a calm, remorseful figure who apologizes for frightening Margaret, insisting he meant no harm. Margaret returns to Angelfield for a final time, where demolition crews uncover a skeleton during the teardown, believed to be Adeline’s remains. The truth about the family’s tangled past is laid bare, and Vida dies peacefully soon after telling her story to Margaret. With the biography complete and Vida gone, Margaret chooses to remain a little longer in the countryside to reflect on what she has learned and the life she now plans to lead.

• Margare[t] Lea [Olivia Colman] is at the center of the inquiry, a careful observer who pieces together a family saga marked by secrecy, trauma, and a carefully constructed web of lies.

• Vida Winter [Vanessa Redgrave], the acclaimed author, carries the weight of a hidden history, and her narrative drives the tension between memory and truth.

• The cast of Angelfield includes [Emmeline] [Antonia Clarke] (the other twin whose fragility shadows the tale) and the younger [Adeline] [Sophie Turner], whose actions ripple through generations.

• The household is peopled by a spectrum of figures who shape the mystery: [Hester Barrow] [Alexandra Roach], the governess with a difficult past; [Missus] [Janet Amsden], the loyal but morally compromised housekeeper; [John-the-dig] [Robert Pugh], the buggy, steadying presence with a dangerous edge; [Aurelius Love] [Gordon Winter], the enigmatic figure linked to the estate’s final secret.

• The many twists unfold with a measured, earnest tone that sticks to what can be shown on the page while letting the reader feel the weight of what remains unsaid.

Note: This summary preserves the narrative’s surprises and emotional core, presenting a cohesive, longer retelling that remains faithful to the events and characters as presented in the film, while keeping the first mentions of each actor linked to their page on the site.