Penelope 2008

Many generations ago, the Wilhern family enjoyed a status of prestige, wealth, and respect. However, their fortunes took a tragic turn when young Ralph Wilhern fell in love with a servant girl named Clara, who he ended up impregnating. Although he intended to marry Clara, his family convinced him otherwise, leading him to wed a woman of his own social class instead. Heartbroken, Clara took her own life.

In a cruel twist of fate, Clara’s mother, a witch, sought revenge for her daughter’s untimely demise by cursing the Wilherns. The curse condemned the next girl born into the family to possess the face of a pig until she was genuinely accepted by “one of her own kind.” For many years, the family bore only sons, and the curse faded into obscurity. However, when Jessica and Franklin Wilhern finally welcomed a daughter named Penelope, she was born with pig-like features, possessing a nose and ears resembling those of a pig.

Desperate to provide their daughter with a normal life, Penelope’s parents attempted to have her appearance surgically altered. Unfortunately, complications from a critical artery made this impossible. To shield their daughter from the world, they confined her within their lavish mansion, with Jessica instituting strict rules against anything pig-related in their home. Amidst the media frenzy around the rumored “pig-faced girl,” the Wilherns went so far as to fake Penelope’s death, focusing instead on finding her a rich husband, assuming it would break the curse.

Despite her isolation, Penelope became an inquisitive and educated young woman with a passion for horticulture. Upon reaching adulthood, Jessica engaged the services of a matchmaker, Wanda, to aid in their search for a suitable partner for Penelope. They arranged clandestine meetings behind a one-way mirror, allowing potential suitors to converse with Penelope without seeing her face. Unfortunately, when she revealed her true appearance, the suitors panicked and fled in terror.

Years after one such encounter with a snobbish young man named Edward Vanderman III, he tried to expose Penelope’s existence, leading to a night in jail for him after his claims were ridiculed. Determined to clear his name, Edward crossed paths with a persistent reporter, Mr. Lemon, who was keen on capturing a photo of Penelope. Having previously been thwarted by her mother, Lemon and Edward joined forces to bring her story to light.

Lemon then sought a distressed aristocrat willing to meet Penelope for a hidden camera setup. He identified a financially troubled man named Max Campion, whom he convinced to participate in the scheme. However, when Max secretly met Penelope, the moment went awry as he mismanaged his equipment, and upon Penelope’s entrance, the other young men ran off in fright. Penelope, feeling despondent over her predicament, argued with her mother about the futility of their efforts to find her a husband, which ultimately led her to express her desire to marry Max, believing it would end the curse.

Back in the mansion, Jessica and Wanda, having spied on Max, quickly arranged for him to speak with Penelope through the one-way mirror. A bond formed between them, but when Max took a picture of her and later destroyed it, he was banished from the home after Penelope beseeched him for marriage.

Determined to break free and experience life beyond her gilded cage, Penelope disguised herself and escaped into the city, encountering new friends, including a delivery girl named Annie. Her photographs soon ignited a media frenzy, causing her parents to search for her, but without needing to disclose her condition. As things unfolded, Penelope found unexpected acceptance from the community despite Edward’s ongoing disgust for her appearance.

As Penelope became more entangled in the media storm, she faced the reality of an upcoming wedding with Edward. Yet, her heart still yearned for Max. In a shocking turn during the ceremony, she chose to assert her identity by rejecting Edward, boldly declaring, > “I like myself the way I am.” Remarkably, with this self-acceptance, she found her curse broken and her pig features transformed into a human face.

Freed from public scrutiny, Penelope stepped out of the spotlight to embrace a quieter life as an elementary school horticulture teacher. In a twist of fate, Jake, the familial butler, revealed himself to be the very witch that cursed the Wilhern family generations ago. On Halloween, Penelope learned the irony that her former pig-faced form became the most popular costume among her students. Reflecting on her past, she sought reconciliation with Johnny, the man who had unknowingly helped to start her journey to self-acceptance, and came to terms with the power she held all along.

With newfound confidence, Penelope shared her story with her class. As they set off to collect plant samples, Johnny pushed her on a swing, while Lemon, ready to capture the moment, saw her happiness and retreated from his previous intentions.