1959 · drama · crime · courtroom
Compulsion
Directed by Richard Fleischer1h 43m1959
Two close friends' plan to execute a flawless crime is crushed when one of them inadvertently leaves his glasses at the crime scene.
Our read: Compulsion (1959) reads as a heavy, kinetic, grounded drama · crime · courtroom entry — extreme in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Heavy, kinetic, extreme drama / crime, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold.
- heavy
- brisk
- intense
Watching Compulsion tonight? Spin for your lens.
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Availability in the UK · via JustWatch
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How Compulsion feels to watch.
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What watching it is actually like.
“You want brainy true-crime psychology and a towering Orson Welles courtroom plea.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if intellectualized murder and a child-victim case feel too disturbing.
Eight films that feel like this one.
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Discussion
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