Donnie Barksdale

Donnie Barksdale is the violent and abusive husband of Valerie Barksdale. He is also a bigot who hates African-Americans, Jews, and anyone else who offends his sense of normalcy. He takes a particular dislike to protagonist Annie Wilson, a clairvoyant who performs readings for Valerie against his will, and whom he frequently accuses of witchcraft.

While he is violent, cruel, and not very bright, he has enough macho, swaggering charm to be attractive to local socialite Jessica King. The two begin an affair, even though Jessica is engaged to schoolteacher Wayne Collins.

When Annie advises Valerie to leave Donnie after he gives her two black eyes, Donnie shows up at Annie's house and threatens to kill her and her children unless she leaves his wife alone. Annie goes to the police, but they say there is nothing they can do, as Donnie had not actually harmed her or her children; it is suggested that they are willfully ignoring her plight because they hate her as much as Donnie does.

When Jessica disappears, suspicion falls on Donnie, but he insists that he is innocent. When she is found murdered, he is arrested, and accuses Annie of framing him as he is led away.

During his trial, he admits the affair to prosecutor David Duncan - who had also been Jessica's lover - and even taunts him that he had been better than him at satisfying her s xually. The jury despises him and finds him guilty of Jessica's murder, sending him to prison.

By the end of the film, however, Annie sees a vision suggesting Donnie's innocence, and ultimately discovers that Collins killed Jessica because she was cheating on him. Donnie is then presumably exonerated and released.

In Brixton, Georgia, widow Annie Wilson is a clairvoyant who has visions of her late grandmother. Annie offers psychic readings to locals to support herself and her three sons. She frequently helps locals including Buddy Cole, an emotionally unstable young man who works at an auto repair shop, and Valerie Barksdale, a woman who is currently in an abusive marriage. Valerie's husband Donnie has repeatedly threatened Annie and her three children because Annie advised Valerie to leave him due to his abuse.

Jessica King, the fiancée of the school principal, Wayne Collins, disappears. When Annie receives a vision that Jessica has been killed and her body thrown into a pond, she informs local sheriff Pearl Johnson. Despite his skepticism, Johnson searches the pond at the home of Donnie and Valerie Barksdale. The police find Jessica's body in the pond and Donnie is arrested for her murder.

At Donnie's trial, it is revealed that he had an affair with Jessica. He is convicted of Jessica's murder and sent to prison. Later, Annie receives more visions revealing that Donnie is innocent and that someone else wants to kill her. She asks prosecutor David Duncan to reopen the case. After Duncan declines, Annie threatens to reveal that he had an affair with Jessica, which she witnessed. Duncan attempts to bribe Annie in exchange for her silence, but Annie refuses.

Annie tells Wayne that Donnie is not the murderer, but that Duncan will not reopen the investigation. At Wayne's suggestion, he and Annie drive out to the pond at night, where Annie has a vision showing Wayne is actually the murderer. Wayne confesses that he was angry after discovering Jessica was cheating on him with multiple other men including Donnie. Wayne attempts to kill Annie by striking her in the head with a flashlight, but Buddy appears and knocks him out. Annie and Buddy lock the unconscious Wayne in the trunk of Annie's car. Buddy tells Annie that he escaped from the mental hospital and hands her the washcloth she had previously given him to wipe her tears.

The two drive to the police station. Buddy waits in the car while she enters the station. When she returns with the police, Buddy has disappeared. When Annie explains what happened at the pond, Johnson informs her that Buddy died by suicide earlier that day. Annie reaches into her pocket and pulls out the washcloth Buddy returned to her. Annie returns home and looks at photographs of her late husband Ben that her oldest son holds as he falls asleep each night. The next morning, she and her sons are at his graveside.