Ann Clay, a young woman recovering from a nervous breakdown. Her doctor recommends she rest at a remote seaside cottage, far from the city’s noise. The location is wild and desolate, with stormy cliffs, cold mist, and an almost unnerving silence… except for the constant cry of gulls.

One gull in particular—a black sea gull—seems to appear wherever Ann goes. It perches on the windowsill. It watches her from the cliffs. The locals say it's an omen, a creature that appears when death is near.