• Kate Hudson as Caroline Ellis
• Gena Rowlands as Violet Devereaux
• John Hurt as Benjamin "Ben" Devereaux
• Peter Sarsgaard as Luke Marshall
• Joy Bryant as Jill Dupay
• Jeryl Prescott as Mama Cecile
• Ronald McCall as Papa Justify
• Thomas Uskali as Robertson Thorpe
• Jen Apgar as Madeleine Thorpe
• Forrest Landis is Martin Thorpe
• Jamie Lee Redmon as Grace Thorpe

Director Iain Softley cast Kate Hudson in the lead role of Caroline Ellis. Hudson was compelled by the screenplay, which she said she finished reading "in 45 minutes", as the film's small cast and character development. Hudson's pregnancy at the time delayed principal photography for eight months.

Actor John Hurt was offered the role of the mute, stroke-ridden Ben Devereaux by director Iain Softley, and accepted, commenting: "He told me with considerable seriousness that it was a very important part and it didn't have any words. So I did, then, start thinking in terms of well, this is a very nice idea. I've always been looking for a part that doesn't have to speak. It's got Gena Rowlands. It's New Orleans. And it's just got all the makings of a very good film I thought." Gena Rowlands was cast as Violet Devereaux, and decided to take the role as she had never made a horror film before.
The Skeleton Key was filmed at the Felicity Plantation, located on the Mississippi River in Saint James Parish, Louisiana, in the spring of 2004. While filming a nighttime sequence during a rainstorm, Gena Rowlands slipped and fell, breaking her hand. She was forced to take a five-week break from shooting, after which filming of her remaining scenes was completed in California.

The Skeleton Key was released in the U.S. on August 12, 2005, after having received an earlier release date of July 29, 2005 in the United Kingdom. It grossed $92 million worldwide. In the U.S., it took in $16.1 million in its first weekend, reaching number 2 at the box office; the total US gross was $47.9 million.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 37% of 149 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "Thanks to its creaky and formulaic script, The Skeleton Key is more mumbo-jumbo than hoodoo and more dull than scary." Metacritic rated it 47/100 based on 32 reviews.

Most of the reviews were mixed. Roger Ebert wrote: "The Skeleton Key is one of those movies that explains too much while it is explaining too little, and leaves us with a surprise at the end that makes more sense the less we think about it. But the movie's mastery of technique makes up for a lot." The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw awarded the film three out of five stars, noting: "It's a pretty thankless role for poor John Hurt, and there are some plot holes. But there's some shrewd satire of racism as the modern south's persistent, dirty little secret and screenwriter Ehren Kruger's third act conjures up a neat little shiver." Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times praised the film, calling it "tightly plotted and suspenseful enough to keep you guessing until the satisfying, unexpected end, which is worth suspending disbelief for," adding that "Hudson holds her own among impressive company. Not that Hurt has a whole lot to do other than grab an occasional wrist and recoil at his face in the mirror, and the usually measured Sarsgaard oversells it a bit, but Rowlands takes to the part like a fly to a shucked oyster." Susan King, also of the Los Angeles Times compared the film to The Uninvited (1944) and The Innocents (1961).

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times criticized the film for its plot, describing it as "enjoyably inane," and also noted that the film "indulges in almost every conceivable regional and [Southern Gothic] genre cliché." USA Today wrote that the film "employs intriguing camera angles to heighten some of the suspense. It's too bad the movie goes over the top and falls apart in the last third." Stephanie Zacharek wrote in Salon: "Softley, working from a script by Ehren Kruger, puts so much care into layering moods and textures that he doesn't always scoot the action along as briskly as he should." In The Seattle Times, Moira McDonald wrote that the film is "occasionally scary but more often silly." In her review for The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten wrote: "Director Softley again shows his gifts for creating atmospheric milieus...Yet the movie, overall, lacks tension and suspense. In Film Journal International, Edward Alter wrote that, "Iain Softley (K-Pax) and cinematographer Dan Mindel make the most of the setting," but concluded that the film was, "a paint-by-numbers supernatural thriller that's more interesting for its locations than for its story."

Jennie Punter in The Globe and Mail called the film, "stylishly made but disappointingly lightweight." Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Jessica Reeves called the film "serviceable but ultimately disappointing". In his annual film guide, Leonard Maltin rated the film mediocre, stating that it was "well-produced and occasionally suspenseful, but populated by unpleasant characters and a story that moves too slowly." In the annual DVD & Video Guide, Marsha Porte…

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