FAQ

Pregnant Mia Gordon (Annabelle Wallis) receives a much-wanted vintage doll as a gift from her husband John (Ward Horton). Shortly thereafter, their home is invaded by two Satanic cultists who terrify the family and stab Mia. If that's not terrifying enough, what the cultists leave behind is even worse.

No. Annabelle is a prequel to La conjuration (2013), focusing on the origins of the doll introduced in that movie. The screenplay was written by Gary Dauberman.

Annabelle refers to the vintage doll given to Mia by her husband. The doll became referred to as "Annabelle" because Annabelle Higgins (Tree O'Toole) was one of the Satanic cultists who invaded the Gordons' home. Higgins committed suicide (slit her own throat) while holding the doll, and her blood dripped into the doll's eye, which is apparently what brought the doll to "life".

Actually, the doll is not "possessed" at all. Higgins committed suicide so as to evoke a demon, who then used the doll as a conduit or gateway from its world into ours. The demon exists independently from the doll but uses it to anchor itself in this world in order to terrify its owners and go after their souls.

Very, very loosely. The doll is 'real', according to demonologist Ed Warren and his psychic wife Lorraine Warren, the original investigators of the doll, although the movie portrays Annabelle as a porcelain doll, while the real doll is a large Raggedy Ann. According to the Warrens, the doll actually belonged to two nurses who noticed that the doll appeared to move around, e.g., change position or move from room to room, when they were not at home. The story of the Gordons was fabricated to explain the doll's possible origin.