Psycho (1960)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Runtime: 109 minutes

Synopsis: A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Verdict: Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is not only the director's best-known work, but it's also a landmark in the history of the Horror genre and Cinema as a whole. Just like Kubrick's "A Space Odyssey", it's a film that wasn't received with the most positive feedback at the time of its release and grew in popularity and admiration with time. Being impossible to properly talk about it without touching on some spoiler-heavy moments, I suggest clicking away if you still haven't seen this masterpiece and come back when you do because yes, it's as good as you heard it was.

It's so good in fact that I don't know how to begin praising it, so I'll proceed chronologically. The film opens in a hotel room where Marion, played by an excellent Janet Leigh, lets her lover Sam know that she wanted to take their relationship to the next level. Sam responds to her that he cannot commit to her due to his financial struggles and immense debt. Fast forward a few hours and Marion finds herself in the position of stealing $40,000 from one of her boss' rich clients. In a state of desperation, she commits the crime and flees to California where Sam resides. It's a long drive, and the narrative is already thrilling as a police officer becomes suspicious of her odd behavior and starts following her around. As her journey comes to an end, the weather decides to act out and heavy rain starts pouring from the sky just as the evening sets. Unwilling to risk an accident on the highway, Marion decides to check into the Bates Motel for the night where Norman, a charming host living right by his family business with his dominant mother, fixes her dinner and makes sure that she's comfortable in her room. Being tired and knowing that she had a long day ahead of her in the morning, she retires early to her room and decides to take a quick shower before hitting the sheets. Suddenly, in one of the most famous scenes in the history of Cinema, the silhouette of Norman's mother approaches the shower's curtain, opens them to Marion's horror, and to the sound of Bernard Herrmann chill-inducing score, stabs the young woman to death.

We're only halfway through the movie when this pivotal moment takes place, and we're left in a state of utter shock just like Norman who, seeing his Mother drenched in blood, runs to Marion's room to evaluate the damage. He wraps the body in the curtain, throws all her belongings in her car, and drives it into a swamp, hoping to clear his mother of all suspicion.

The second half of the movie focuses on Sam, Marion's sister, and a private detective tasked with finding the missing $40,000. When the latter finds out that his suspect stayed at the Bates Motel, the trio's suspicion of Norman and his mysterious mother grow bigger, especially when they're told by the sheriff that... she died a decade ago. A waterfall of questions come to mind when this information is revealed, all of which are answered in what is possibly my favorite final 10 minutes of any movie I've ever seen. The movie is revealed to be one of the very first films to deal with psychoanalysis as we're shown that Norman suffers from severe guilt over murdering his mother in a fit of jealousy and that, to repress that guilt, he decided to bear her persona in an attempt to convince himself that she was still alive. The murder of Marion is explained as being the result of the "Mother" persona's possessive nature and her disapproval of Norman finding another woman to love. Everything comes together so logically, even Norman's peculiar hobby of taxidermy, which in a way is exactly what he did to his matriarch. But it should be Hitchcock's ability to pull off a narrative so convoluted and unorthodox that should be applauded. It's very clear that he had a vision in mind and that he perfected every detail of it  Anthony Perkins' performance is also one that should be hailed as an all-time great due to the complexity he brings to the character without ever making it too obvious for the public. Knowing what the twist was on my rewatch, I couldn't help but admire his acting even more than I initially did because the innocence he brings to his character makes him all the more creepy and empathetic at the same time. The terrifying stare combined with his alter ego's narrated thought in the final scene is the cherry on top of the delicious cake. "They'll see and they'll know because she couldn't hurt a fly" he ponders as a close-up of his face is, for a fraction of a second eclipsed by his mother's skull signifying his duality.

"Psycho" is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I strongly advise you to look up the psychology behind it when you finish watching it (starting with this great video essay on Youtube). It's iconic, revolutionary, riveting, aesthetically pleasing, complex, and even entertaining all at once. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word.  

FINAL GRADE: 10/10