After the three young Baudelaire siblings are left orphaned by a fire in their mansion, they are carted off to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). Unfortunately, Olaf is a cruel, scheming man only after the inheritance that the eldest Baudelaire, Violet (Emily Browning), is set to receive. The children escape and find shelter with their quirky Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) and, subsequently, their phobic Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep), but Olaf is never far behind.