Arvin Russell’s fate seems to be tied all the way back to a decision his father, Willard (Bill Skarsgaard), made back in his youth. Choosing to marry the waitress he fell for, Charlotte (Haley Bennett), rather than the woman his mother pledged him to, the ill-fated Helen Hatton (Mia Wasikowska), a series of events take place that lead to Helen dying at the hand of her eventual husband/aspiring faith healer, Roy (Harry Melling), and Willard grieving for a wife who dies after a battle with cancer. But if Willard had married Helen, things would have turned out rather differently.