Many centuries ago, a young maid named Clara meets Ralph, a wealthy socialite, from a

reputable family, known as ‘The Wilherns.’ In time, the couple falls in love which ultimately leads
to Clara conceiving a child. Sadly, the Wilherms disapprove of Clara, due to her low economic
status, and forcefully pressure Ralph into marrying a bride from a more dignified background.

Clara is heartbroken by the Wilherns’ rejection and ends her life by committing the unthinkable.
This act causes Clara’s mother, who also happens to be the town’s witch, to grow resentful of
the Wilhern family. One night, the old witch carries out her revenge by bewitching the elitist
family with a generational hex. The bereaved mother curses the next daughter born of the
Wilherns to have the face of a pig. However, the witch does add one loophole— The curse may
be broken if someone from an elitist family grows to truly love the pig-faced daughter.

For many years, the Wilherns had son after son after son, with no daughters to bear the curse.
As generations pass, the curse grows into an urban legend with the present-day Wilherns’
paying it no mind. However, their good luck eventually runs out as a young girl named Penelope
is born into the family. True to the curse, Penelope has a hideous pig face that scares all who
lay eyes upon her, including her own mother, Jessica.

After her birth, news of Penelope’s ominous face makes rounds around town, causing the press
and the general public to go into a frenzy. To protect Penelope from the curious reporters,
Jessica fakes her daughter’s death and locks her away in their mansion, away from the public.
Jessica also seeks medical help to fix her daughter’s disfigured face. However, all her efforts
prove abortive, as even the best doctors have trouble fixing her face.

With no other way of changing her pig-like features, Jessica turns to the curse’s loophole and
tries to find Penelope, a husband from a rich family who truly loves her. Once Penelope clocks
18, she’s made to date many potential suitors, none of which are allowed to see her face at first.
Sadly, for years, these set-up dates never seem to work as all the suitors race off and even
jump through the windows, when they finally get to see Penelope’s face.

To protect their daughter’s privacy, the Wilherns’ butler, Jake, would catch these runaway suitors
and force them into signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement. For a while, this tactic works pretty
well. However, one afternoon, things changed as a wealthy suitor named Edward had
successfully outrun the butler and reported the case at a nearby station.

Edward describes Penelope’s face to the police officers and asks that they investigate the
pig-looking girl. Naturally, the officers find his description to be quite laughable and instantly
dismiss him. A local reporter gets word of Edward’s story and publishes in the town’s newspaper
that the wealthy suitor has gone mad.

The next day, Edward sees the publication and grows livid as he vows to expose Penelope’s
identity to the world and prove his claims. The wealthy suitor soon finds a partner to join his
mission, a tabloid reporter named Lemon, who also believes his story. Together, the duo
brainstorms ways to get proof and eventually decide on getting an undercover suitor to take a
picture of Penelope.

They hire the services of a young man named Max and install a hidden camera in his jacket. On
their instruction, Max heads to Penelope’s house and joins the other suitors who are waiting to
meet her. Minutes later, the pig-faced girl enters the room and just like clockwork, the men
swiftly take to their heels. All except Max who hadn’t quite seen her face.

Dishearted that her suitors had once again run at the sight of her, Penelope retires to her room
and talks to Max through a one-sided mirror. The pig-faced girl finds Max to be particularly
interesting and quite unlike the other men, she’s met. His unique personality makes her hopeful
that he may finally be the one to break the curse.

Though an imposter, Max also finds Penelope to be quite sweet and intelligent as the duo
converses for quite a while. At the end of their conversation, Max leaves the house but promises
to return the next day.

The following afternoon, the undercover suitor returns much to Penelope’s delight. The duo
discusses their ambitions and life goals, with Penelope revealing she’d like to be a horticulturist.
The conversation soon shifts to her isolation indoors and Max proposes they grab a beer
together at a nearby bar. Penelope is fascinated by the offer but her insecurities make her
fearful of going out in public. So, she politely declines his invitation.

The next day, Max returns and Penelope finally musters up the courage to reveal herself to him.
She approaches him from behind and an unsuspecting Max gets startled and backs away at the
sight of her. Unlike the others, Max doesn’t run but he is taken aback by her hideous face. His
reaction really hurts Penelope, prompting the pig-faced to sprint out of the room in shame.

Feeling guilty about taking the undercover job, Max exits the house and calls off the deal with
Lemon. Meanwhile, Jessica spots Max interacting with Lemon and instantly recognizes the
reporter. Seeing this, she realizes Max is a spy and tries to stop him from reentering the house.
However, the undercover agent scales the fence and breaks into the building to speak with
Penelope once more.

Desperate to break her curse, Penelope explains the spell’s loophole to him and begs Max to
marry her. Not coming from an elitist family, Max realizes he can’t break the curse and turns
down Penelope’s offer. The pig-faced girl is disappointed by his answer and orders him to leave
as she breaks down in tears.

That night, a devastated Penelope breaks out of the house and runs away from home. Using a
scarf to cover half her face, Penelope enters the outside world and is fascinated by it. After
adapting to her surroundings, the runaway daughter calls her parents via a payphone, informing
them that she’s alright. Her worried parents ask for her current location but Penelope simply
ignores them and checks into a nearby hotel with her mum’s credit card.
The following day, Jessica notices her credit card is missing and traces the transaction to
Penelope’s hotel. While heading to her room, Penelope spots her parents in the lobby and
escapes via her room’s window. Sadly, she leaves behind her mum’s credit card in the process
and is left with barely any cash. Having no place to turn to and with night fast approaching, the
runaway daughter brainstorms ways to make a quick buck.

Meanwhile, the investigative duo, Lemon and Edward launch a public ad, offering a reward to
anyone who can get pictures of the pig-faced girl. Penelope runs into the ad, and desperate for
cash, decides to sell her pictures to get the reward. She heads on over to a photo booth and
uses her last remaining pennies to take multiple photos. After which, she calls Lemon to make
the trade.

Upon agreeing on a meeting spot and time, Penelope hands the pictures to Lemon in exchange
for cash. After retrieving the photos, Lemon has a change of heart and is skeptical about
revealing the young girl’s identity to the world. Sadly, Edward isn’t as empathetic and decides to
go on with the plan to clear his name and prove his claims.

The next morning, pictures of Penelope are plastered all over the city’s newspapers and
magazines, with the story spreading like wildfire. Later that day, an undercover Penelope goes
into a bar and orders a drink. Inside, she meets a young woman named Annie, and the duo
instantly gets along.

A curious Annie notices Penelope is hiding half her face and questions her new friend about it.
In response, the pig-faced girl lies that she recently got a bad nose job and is hiding until it fully
heals. Annie finds her story quite strange but doesn’t think much of it. After the girls finish their
drinks, Annie offers Penelope a ride on her bike. Together, the duo explores the city as Annie
shows her around town.

Weeks later, the runaway daughter adapts to her new life and is out getting groceries when she
runs into her parents. Scared of losing her freedom, Penelope sprints at the sight of them with
her parents in hot pursuit. She swiftly races down the street and makes some sharp turns right
before entering the bar from earlier. Luckily, she meets Annie there but passes out shortly after,
due to breathlessness. A concerned Annie pulls off her scarf to help her breathe but in doing so,
exposes her true identity.

When Penelope regains consciousness, she finds herself in a hospital surrounded by fascinated
reporters, taking pictures for their respective publications. After she’s discharged from the
hospital, Penelope returns home to her parents and soon becomes a local sensation. The
general public is intrigued by her story, causing her to be regarded as a well-liked celebrity.

Upon discovering Penelope has amassed many fans, Edward is cajoled by his parents into
marrying the pig-faced girl. Edward is initially repulsed by the idea but eventually succumbs to
his parent’s demands and proposes to Penelope. On receiving his proposal, the newly turned
celebrity immediately sees through his ploy and rejects his offer. Penelope’s mum, Jessica is
horrified by her answer and reminds her pig-faced daughter that Edward has the ability to finally
break the curse. Hearing this, she has a change of heart and reluctantly agrees to marry him in
hopes of losing her piglike features.

News of their engagement spreads like wildfire with Max getting word of the upcoming wedding.
Aware that Edward doesn’t truly love Penelope, Max decides to confront him and attends the
couple’s engagement party.

Max secretly meets Edward in the restroom and threatens to expose his true intentions to
Penelope if he doesn’t call off the wedding. This treat doesn’t faze Edward, as the young
socialite cockily boasts that Penelope is too desperate to back down from the wedding. After
their conversation, Edward returns to the party and reunites with his fiance while Max helplessly
looks on.

Weeks later, the day of the wedding finally arrives. Penelope dresses up and joins Edward at
the altar as the priest reads out the wedding vows. Not being able to bear the sight of her,
Edward looks away from Penelope as he agrees to take her as his wife. Moments later, the
priest also reads Penelope her vows and questions if she’d take Edward as her husband.

At that moment, Penelope ultimately chooses not to settle for a husband who doesn't love her
and rejects the vows, right before running from the altar. Penelope sprints back into her locked
room with her mum in hot pursuit. Jessica pleads with her daughter to return to the wedding as
it is her one chance to finally break the curse. However, Penelope refuses and declares after
many years of hating herself for being ugly, she’s finally accepted and learned to love herself.

As soon as she utters these words, Penelope falls to the ground with Jessica rushing to her aid.
Seeing her daughter’s face, Jessica realizes the curse has been broken as Penelope’s piglike
features had fully vanished.

Right then, we discover that the curse’s loophole was never restricted to romantic love. Hence,
anyone from an elitist family including herself and her parents could have broken the curse
years ago. Sadly, the disdain for her looks had stopped her mum and dad from truly loving her.
However, with her newly found self-love, she had finally broken the spell all by herself.

Learning this, Penelope’s parents feel regretful for not accepting their daughter despite her
looks. And profusely apologize for their actions. A forgiving Penelope accepts their apology as
the family shares a warm embrace.

That afternoon, the family’s butler, Jake resigns and exits the house’s premises. As he leaves,
Jake transforms into a witch. Thus, revealing himself to be Clara’s mother.

Weeks later, Penelope packs and moves out of her parent's house as she heads off to start a
new life. News of the broken curse is kept under wraps to avoid drawing the public’s attention
and to allow her live a normal life. Now without the piglike face, Penelope walks around in public
without stares and takes up a job as a horticulture teacher in an elementary school.

About a month later, Halloween arrives, and Penelope attends a costume party together with
Annie. On her arrival, she feels the urge to pee and knocks on a nearby apartment to use their
bathroom. When the apartment owner opens the door, Penelope is shocked to find Max staring
at her.

As she’s wearing a mask, Max doesn’t recognize her and innocently invites her in. After using
the bathroom, Penelope converses with Max until he finally realizes it’s her. Overwhelmed by his
hidden emotions, Max kisses her despite having no prior knowledge about the broken curse. He
apologizes to Penelope for turning down her proposal the first time and explains he only did that
because he didn’t come from an elitist family.

Hearing this, Penelope realizes Max truly loves her and reveals her new face to him. Max
marvels at her beauty and kisses her again as the couple passionately makes out.

In the closing scene, Penelope and Max enjoy a day at the park with Lemon secretly staring at
them from a distance. The reporter moves to take a photo of the former pig-faced girl to break
the news of the broken curse. However, seeing how happy the couple is, he decides against it
and leaves them to enjoy their private life together.

And that’s a wrap for this movie’s recap.

Thanks for watching.