Wonder Wheel

How this film uses it

Mickey, the lifeguard, talks to you as the narrator and comments on the people around him, including his own wish to be a playwright. He treats the boardwalk as a stage and you as the audience. It also pushes you to wonder how much of his version to trust.

Where to see it

Early boardwalk scenes: Mickey introduces the Coney Island crowd and the Rannell family to you, then steps back into the story.

How this film uses it

Ginny has an affair with Mickey, and then Mickey falls for Carolina. Each pair has its own history, and the third person is always in the way. You feel for Ginny and for Carolina, which makes the jealousy hard to judge.

Where to see it

The pizza parlor date: Mickey and Carolina go out in Brooklyn, and word of it reaches the gangsters hunting her.

How this film uses it

Critics praised cinematographer Vittorio Storaro's warm, golden look for the amusement park. The glow makes the boardwalk feel inviting, which sits oddly against how stuck the characters are. On one reading, the beauty is the lure that keeps Ginny in place.

Where to see it

Boardwalk and park scenes: the sun, the rides and the apartment windows all carry the same gold and orange light.

How this film uses it

You know Ginny is cheating on Humpty and that Carolina is in danger, while Humpty carries on with his routines. Each scene of family normality gets tenser because you hold the facts he lacks.

Where to see it

The boardwalk family scenes: Humpty goes about his days with Ginny, who is hiding her affair with Mickey.

How this film uses it

Ginny phones to warn Carolina but freezes and hangs up. The scene makes you see her jealousy and her fear at once, and the harm that follows grows from a single missing sentence.

Where to see it

The warning call: Ginny learns that the gangsters know about Carolina's date, dials her, and hangs up without speaking.