A crime never goes unpunished, or does it? The perfect crime trope and archetype have been done many times in books and films, often depicting dark themes. What’s even more eerie about these stories is how close they are to reality, often based on real-life events. The bigger picture also absorbs the other non-romantic version of ‘life imitates art’, cinema being one of those art forms. By the end of these films, one goes through an unsettling realization of dread, fear, and evil slipping into the crowd unpunished. I would personally deem these thrillers a sub-genre of horror, because the horror experience finds the viewers with nuance. If it ever happens, I will be putting my two cents on the following 5 thrillers, which portrayed a crime so perfectly, it may give you full body chills.
1. Memories of Murder (2003)
A lot of the audience may know Bong Joon-ho from his Academy Award-winning film Parasite. Impressively, he was creating excellence for a while. In 2003, he completely shocked the world with one of the best Korean thrillers receiving international acclaim. Memories of Murder is a crime thriller, one of a kind. It takes a turn from the traditional whodunit narrative and embraces futility and helplessness. It accounts for one of the first serial killings in Korea, “the Hwaseong killings,” in the bleak small town. Two detectives, a brutish cop who came to investigate this precarious case from Seoul and the other local cop, who, through his sharp detective skills, can see through a person. The film gives one everything, from a chilling cat-and-mouse chase to intense psychological puzzle pieces to put together. The iconic ending with Detective Park breaking the fourth wall keeps haunting viewers to this day.
2. Primal Fear (1996)
Edward Norton’s breakthrough debut occurred in this legal drama turned bait-and-switch thriller, Primal Fear. Aaron Stampler, a stuttering altar boy for the archbishop in Chicago, is accused of murdering him. Martin Vail (Richard Gere), a pompous, arrogant attorney, takes the case believing he’s innocent. Later, he discovers that Stampler has multiple identity disorder as diagnosed by his legal psychologist and has developed an alternate personality named Roy who confesses to the murder. Stuck between the dilemma of saving him and being fair, Vail tackles the case in the most profoundly sensible manner. Apparently, he was lucky too, or so he thought. The last scene of the film is a backroom conversation between the two, which proved to be one of the best plot twists of cinema.
3. Zodiac (2007)
This one is not your average crime thriller where the perpetrator deceives the law. Based on Northern California’s most elusive criminal from the 1960s and 1970s, Zodiac goes beyond the conventional catharsis of catching the predator. David Fincher is more interested in the chase, the paperwork, the obsession, and the leads leading nowhere. It portrays the struggle of the investigators, including Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), a cartoonist who goes half made solving a cipher, and Inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), who is sure of a suspect’s involvement in the crime, yet fails to prove it on paper. The potential killer gets to have multiple interactions with the killer, yet nothing happens. This uneventful ending, when experienced on screen, gives audiences the ultimate fatigue and taste of real-crime dealings. The closure that’s never attained and the discomfort of seeing the killer walk away as a free man.
4. Gone Girl (2014)
Another classic masterpiece by David Fincher, which remains unforgettable, and if you’re into thrillers, you must be familiar with this one. This list, however, was impossible without this insanely twisted take on feminine rage coupled with horror and crime. Based on Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name, starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck. The movie challenges the viewers’ discernment when it comes to determining the true villain and the actual culprit, which marks the film as a cult classic. It leaves one questioning whether the perfect crime was an event fully justified or simply leaves one disturbed by the aftermath of chaos that’s called marriage.
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Mr. Ripley (Matt Damon) is one of the most outrageously well-written characters. He is an imposter, a con artist, a sharp-minded nobody, street smart, and a psychotic murderer. Getting obsessed with the glamorous life of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), he ends up getting rid of him in a fit of fury. From then on, the film becomes a tale of forgery, manipulation, and lies that he had to rely upon to cover up his dirty deed. Ripley also kills again and again to hide his heinous crime, which keeps getting worse. This time, the route curated by the monster was way more perfect than the crime itself.
Let us know if you have watched any of these and any of your favorites which did not make it to the list.
Happy Watching!
