Samuel L. Jackson served as a producer, and starred in the film with Lisa Nicole Carson, Jurnee Smollett, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan, Meagan Good, and Diahann Carroll.

[9] Eve Batiste, age 10, lives in a prosperous Creole-American community in Louisiana with her younger brother Poe and her older sister Cisely in the 1960s.

Their parents are Roz and Louis, a well-respected doctor in Louisiana's African American community who claims descent from the French aristocrat who founded the town of Eve's Bayou.

One night after a raucous party, Eve accidentally witnesses her father having sex with Matty Mereaux, a family friend.

Cisely comes into conflict with both her sister and their mother as she enters puberty and tries to navigate the difficult transition to adulthood, particularly with regard to her appearance and sexuality.

Throughout the duration of the film, Eve often seeks refuge with her Aunt Mozelle, who works as a Hoodoo Practitioner with a neighborhood reputation as "The Black Widow".

Eve, who also has the Spiritual gift of sight, has a premonitory dream shortly before an accident occurs that claims Mozelle's third husband.

When asked for a reading by Roz, Elzora implies that an unexpected "solution" to her problem will arise, but to wait and look to her children in the meantime.

With regret, and in an attempt to save her father, Eve rushes to bring him home after finding him in a bar chatting with Matty Mereaux.

"[11] Lemmons was inspired by childhood trips she took to Louisiana, saying she "wanted to write a story about people who were like royalty in a small town.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Eve's Bayou marks a striking feature debut for director Kasi Lemmons, layering terrific performances and Southern mysticism into a measured meditation on disillusionment and forgiveness.

"[25] In a 2017 retrospective essay for Vulture, Angelica Jade Bastién wrote, "The film operates deftly on multiple levels: It’s a stunning coming-of-age tale (an exceedingly rare example of one that privileges the experience of young black girls); an honest, hyperspecific portrait of black life in rural Louisiana; and one of the greatest writer-director debuts in American cinematic history.

[32] On February 22, 2009, Debbi Morgan's portrayal of Mozelle Batiste Delacroix was included in PopMatters' 100 Essential Female Film Performances list.