As well as the house being haunted, it becomes apparent fairly quickly that George is not a good man. He begins cheating on his wife with Willis (Natalia Dyer) and shows casually threatening behavior to Catherine’s new friend Justine (Rhea Seehorn). We also learn that he fraudulently claimed that he painted pictures done by his late cousin and also forged a recommendation letter from his university to secure his current job.
Intolerance about his wife’s eating disorder, and an off-hand remark he makes about Justine eating a lot of lasagne (!) might also indicate that George has something to do with Catherine’s condition (though it’s a bit of a stretch).
Backed into a corner when his boss Floyd, (F. Murray Abraham) discovers his recommendation letter was fake, George decides to murder him by pushing him off his boat, which he also manages to make look like a heart attack. We understand that by this point George is being egged on by the male malevolent spirit in the house – that of the murderous Mr. Vayle.
On the way back from drowning his boss, George runs into Justine. He’s still soaking wet from presumably jumping overboard and swimming back to shore to disguise his part in Floyd’s murder. By now Justine has also clocked the scarf she made around the neck of George’s young mistress Willis and confronts him about this. George knows Justine witnessed his conversation with his former college professor pointing to the recommendation letter forgery. Knowing she’s another loose end, he runs her car off the road, leaving her in a coma.
Meanwhile Catherine has learned that the spirit of the dead woman who inhabits her house is benevolent. She also strongly suspects that it was George who killed Floyd and ran Justine off the road. While George is out she packs her bags and dresses her daughter presumably planning to leave when he’s asleep.
When he comes home, the two fight. George discovers Franny is dressed and the car is packed and he becomes aggressive with Catherine. He also pushes her to drink one of the protein drinks she has as a food supplement. But, eek!, he seems to have drugged it. Before Catherine can take Franny and run she passes out. Encouraged by the evil spirits in the house, George hacks Catherine to death with an axe.