Annabelle is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan.

It premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on September 29, 2014, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 3, 2014, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

In Santa Monica, California, John Form, a medical student, presents his expectant wife Mia with a rare vintage porcelain doll as a gift for their first child, to be placed in a collection in their daughter's nursery.

After finding the doll (which John had discarded since Annabelle's previous attack) in one of their boxes, another set of paranormal events plague Mia and her daughter.

Mia calls the detective who handled the original case, and learns that the cult intended to summon a demonic spirit.

With the help of bookseller and fellow tenant Evelyn, Mia realizes that the cult practiced devil worship, which summoned a demon who followed the family after they moved to their apartment so as to claim a soul.

Mia and John contact their parish priest, Father Perez, who explains that demons sometimes attach themselves to inanimate objects to achieve their goals, and that a human soul must be offered for a purpose.

Father Perez is hospitalized, and when John checks on him, the priest warns him that the demon's true intention is to claim Mia's soul.

That night, while Evelyn is visiting Mia, the demon uses Father Perez's physical form to sneak into the apartment and abduct Leah for her mother's soul.

To spare her daughter, Mia attempts to jump out of the window with the doll but John and Evelyn arrive in time to stop her.

Evelyn decides to take her life in Mia's place instead as an atonement for causing a car accident that resulted in the death of her daughter Ruby years ago.

Six months later, the doll is bought from an antique shop by a mother as a gift for her daughter Debbie, a nursing student, and is seen stored and locked away in a glass case in the Warrens' artifact room.

[6][8][9][10] On February 25, 2014, filming continued at an apartment on South Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles County, where the 55-member crew shot for several days.

[11] Director Leonetti and producer Safran told reporters that the Annabelle set was "haunted" and that they thought "supernatural phenomena" had occurred there.

Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros., said about the opening box office performance, "we had a wonderful campaign for the film and a good date"; she added "being a spinoff of The Conjuring set it up really well and we just hit the right note.

The website's consensus reads: "Annabelle borrows unabashedly from better horror films, content to leave viewers with a string of cheap jolts that fail to build on the far more effective The Conjuring.

"[39] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 37 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

"[43] Pete Hammond of Deadline also gave the film a negative review and said that the "not-scary doll show" has left him pining for Chucky in Child's Play.

He further added, "Annabelle may still draw horror fans in this Halloween month, but they won't be quaking over the scares in this film.