It’s hard for any classic movie that comes packing a huge twist to make it to new audiences unspoiled in the internet era, when there’s an entire generation out there who knows that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father or that Bruce Willis sees dead people before they’ve even gotten around to watching The Empire Strikes Back or The Sixth Sense for the first time.
However, if everything leading up to the rug-pull is engaging and entertaining its own right, then there’s still plenty of enjoyment to be found. Whether they know how it ends or not, Netflix users have either been reacquainting themselves or having their jaws left on the floor by 1996’s classic legal thriller Primal Fear.
The breakthrough role of Edward Norton’s career, which landed him an Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor, the up-and-comer stars as an altar boy accused of murdering Chicago’s archbishop. Richard Gere’s defense attorney is assigned to the case, but he swiftly discovers that the truth is a lot more complicated than anyone could have imagined.
We won’t be going into spoilers here (even though it’s a 26 year-old film), but we will point out that Primal Fear is right on the cusp of entering Netflix’s global Top 20, as per FlixPatrol. Even without the all-time great twist ending, it would still be a hugely accomplished exercise in tension and atmosphere, but it never gets any better than it does on first viewing for reasons that are incredibly obvious.
Published: Jul 5, 2022 11:29 am