Julia appears to love Luis but fears Walter, so she and Luis run off to live secretly, with the supposedly dead Walter in pursuit. Julia sends Luis to go and buy them tickets home, but it was a trick, and Walter is not dead. Luis believes she loves him and lies to Walter, but when confronted, a fight breaks out, and Luis shoots Walter. Luis finds Julia and discovers she is actually in league with Walter. Luis discovers that Julia has taken nearly all of his fortune and teams up with Walter to look for her. She informs Luis that she believes Julia to be an impostor and that her sister may be dead. Emily arrives in Cuba to meet Luis and shows the letter Julia wrote to her. Luis informs Julia about this, and she gets upset. A detective, Walter Downs ( Thomas Jane), arrives from Wilmington and tells Luis that he has been hired by Emily to find her sister Julia and would like to see her on the coming Sunday. Luis adds Julia to his business and personal bank accounts, giving her free rein to spend as she pleases.

Holding off as long as possible, Julia finally pens a letter to her sister. Luis forces Julia to write back, fearing that if Julia continues to ignore Emily's letters, Emily will assume something terrible has befallen her sister, and she might send the authorities. She sends an emotional letter asking about her welfare. Meanwhile, Julia's sister Emily is worried. Luis falls desperately in love with her and begins to explore her sexuality. Luis and Julia wed in the church within hours of her setting foot in Cuba. But they assure each other that they will try to understand and trust each other in life. Julia says that they both have something in common: that both are not to be trusted. Luis also admits to deception he has misled her into believing he is a poor clerk instead of a wealthy plantation owner. Julia explains she wants more than a man who is only interested in a pretty face, so she substituted a plain-looking woman's photo. Julia comes off the ship, looking nothing like her photos. Luis Vargas ( Antonio Banderas), a Cuban man, sends for American Julia Russell ( Angelina Jolie) from Delaware to be his mail-order bride. Original Sin is set in late 19th century Cuba during the Spanish rule, and flashes back and forth from the scene of a woman awaiting her execution while telling her story to a priest to the actual events of that story.

Synopsis of the movie original sin