True crime: in the age of streaming and digital content, the popularity of this genre has only continued to grow. As Netflix pumps out documentaries about global crimes, from Elize Matsunaga in Brazil to the trial of Aaron Hernandez in the United States, it has proven that viewers are absolutely smitten with content that investigates something horrific but true. The genre is also highly criticized. It can potentially mishandle information and force the victims to recollect the crime and its traumatizing impact.
In Hollywood and American cinema, crime has been a pervasive subject, one depicted on the screen since the birth of film. The first crime movie was the 1903 Western silent film The Great Train Robbery, initially thought to be the first Western film. The Great Train Robbery held moments of violence and action, things that weren’t depicted yet on this new medium, and so it set the standard of crime films. While these movies started with fictional plots, they now tackle sensational news, serial killers, and murders that rocked nations. Since then, the genre has evolved to meet contemporary standards while paying homage to its roots. Here are the best true crime films.
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8 House of Gucci
MGM, Bron Creative, Scott Free Productions
House of Gucci mixes fashion with crime and drama. While many bemoan Lady Gaga’s accent in it, it offers glimpses into the tight fortress of the Gucci name, one marred by greed and tragedy. When Patrizia Reggiani marries Maurizio Gucci, a catastrophic series of events occurs with only a single road out: murder. While the Gucci family disapproves of the film, it still has managed to become a box office hit due to the chemistry between the actors and the flamboyant nature of the movie. It seems almost fitting that a film about Gucci would pivot between crime and high drama.
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7 Zodiac
Phoenix Pictures
Zodiac is about the notorious Zodiac Killer who has remained unknown. The movie has an all-star cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. as three core individuals trying to crack the case. Zodiac is a film full of nuance and quiet moments. The viewers only see glimpses of the murders, and the film instead chooses to focus on the detectives and individuals attempting to put together the puzzle pieces. This is an interesting choice for the film, as it pivots from the sensational, violent aspects of a crime to the fragmented decisions that come with the impacts. It mixes police work with journalism, thus relying on the tension created by the crime to propel the plot further.
6 Bonnie & Clyde
Warner Bros. Pictures
Bonnie and Clyde, when released in 1967, marked a new era of Hollywood movies. The Hays Code would end in 1968, and films would be allowed to shift away from the conservative ideologies imposed on the industry and delve into forbidden territory. And that’s what makes Bonnie and Clyde spectacular: it broke the norm. It created a scandal because of its direct depictions of violence and sexuality stripped from the cinema. The film retells the story of outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. It’s fitting how hated this movie was because of how hated Bonnie and Clyde were. In the 1930s, those who didn’t fit the status quo of society were declared public enemies, but often these were individuals typically coming from marginalized and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This movie coming out in 1967 marked something new in cinema and society, something more human.
5 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Vortex
The Texas Chainsaw series has been well-loved throughout the years, but nothing beats the original. It follows a family that has decided to visit their family’s homestead with some friends, but it begins to go awry when a mass murderer named Leatherface appears and begins to hunt them down. The movie was inspired by murderer Ed Gein, who was also the inspiration for other films like Silence of the Lambs, starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, and Hitchcock’s Psycho. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic horror film that originated many characteristics and staple images of the slasher genre. The franchise has even continued today; a new entry to the franchise is coming out in 2022.
4 Memories of Murder
CJ Entertainment, Sidus Pictures
Bong Joon-ho has been a director loved globally for Parasite, but Memories of Murder was only his second film and still managed to be mind-blowing. Korea’s first serial killer was only recently caught, but when Memories of Murder was released, it could only speculate on who the murderer was. Frequent Bong collaborator Song Kang-ho stars as a local detective who has never had a major case before. When women are murdered and raped, he is pushed to his limits trying to solve the crime. Memories of Murder is one of the greatest cop films because of how it has Bong’s signature sense of humor and satire all over it. It’s a slow burn that keeps the audience at the edge of their seats.
3 Badlands
Warner Bros.
Badlands came out in 1973, only five years after the release of Bonnie and Clyde. This is a film that lives in the same spirit of New Hollywood as Bonnie and Clyde. Badlands is classified as a neo-noir period crime drama set in South Dakota. Fifteen-year-old Holly is sick of her life in the small town she grew up in, and so when she gets together with a greaser with a tendency for violence, things quickly start to go south. The couple begins to go on a murder spree inspired by the one conducted in real life by Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Badlands is particularly interesting when examining gender dynamics; the fifteen-year-old girl, Holly, is essentially trapped with two different men with penchants for mistreating others. And when she finally makes her own decision, she liberates herself.
2 In Cold Blood
Pax Enterprises, Inc.
In Cold Blood was a nonfiction novel by Truman Capote, one controversial because Capote had altered the details of events to fit his literary agenda. Regardless, Capote’s novel is one of the most sold nonfiction books. The movie adaptation is bone-chilling; the viewers know what has happened early in the film. The two men, Dick and Perry, have murdered an entire family. But the critical details are left out, thus allowing the viewers to humanize these cold-hearted killers. Certain characteristics of the film also hit too close to home: the actual house the family was murdered in was the set. Robert Blake and Scott Wilson, who play the two main characters, embodied their roles perfectly, adding to the realism created by the movie.
1 Goodfellas
Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is one of the best movies ever made. It chronicles the life of mob associate Henry Hill, who, as a young man living in Brooklyn, begins to work with the mob and progresses through the ranks. The film revolves around the lifestyle of those involved with organized crime; while other films may romanticize situations of violence and greed, Goodfellas boils it down and singles these men out as killers. They chase danger and recklessness, long for the exhilaration that comes with shooting a gun. The editing of the film itself reflects this attitude. It incorporates multiple fast cuts and narration that leans on excessive. And that’s what drives the film as well: it’s all a rush, fun, and games until things start to fall apart. Scorsese outdid himself with Goodfellas, forever changing the gangster genre by exposing it for what it is: a constructed depiction of mob life.
