Psychology technique · used in 8 films
Driving drama from what one person hides from or fails to do for another. Loyalty goes unrewarded and silence works like betrayal.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1966
Armstrong hides his real purpose from Sarah, so she believes the man she loves has chosen the enemy. Their closeness is strained by what he cannot tell her. He only confides in her after she runs from the interrogation.
Where to see it: The university escape. Sarah runs from a room of scientists and Armstrong catches up to tell her his real motives.
Robert Altman · 1973
Terry asks Marlowe for one favor and leaves out everything that matters. Marlowe's loyalty gets him arrested, beaten and lied to, and you learn the truth only when he does. The sting comes from how little his friend thought of him.
Where to see it: The villa confrontation: Terry explains the affair and the murder, then dismisses Marlowe as a born loser. Marlowe answers by shooting him dead.
Woody Allen · 1984
Danny works for people who barely thank him. Lou drops him for a bigger manager after the Waldorf show, and Tina does not defend him. Danny still pays the ventriloquist's hospital bills. The film suggests his goodness is its own reason.
Where to see it: Lou leaves Danny. After the Waldorf gig, Lou goes to a bigger manager, and Tina says nothing for Danny.
Jonathan Glazer · 2004
The boy seems to know details only Sean could know, so you start to wonder if he is for real. Late on, the film shows how: Clara, who had a secret affair with Sean, buried a package of Anna's love letters, and the boy dug it up and read them. A hidden betrayal explains what looked like magic.
Where to see it: Clara and the buried gift: Clara reveals she and Sean were lovers. The boy's backpack is full of Anna's love letters to Sean, which he had secretly dug up the night of the party.
Woody Allen · 2017
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.
Asghar Farhadi · 2018
The drama is driven by secrets people keep from each other. Laura tells her old friend Paco that he is Irene's father, and other old grievances come out in the same hours. Keeping quiet turns out to cost as much as lying.
Where to see it: Laura's confession. Laura tells Paco that he is Irene's biological father, and his wife Bea doubts the story.
Todd Haynes · 2019
The drama comes from what DuPont knew and kept quiet. Bilott reads through hundreds of boxes of discovery documents and finds references to PFOA. Company tests had linked it to cancer and birth defects, and the findings stayed private.
Where to see it: The boxes of documents. DuPont sends hundreds of boxes after Bilott asks for broader discovery, and he finds the repeated references to PFOA.
Fernando Meirelles · 2019
Each man is carrying something he has not told anyone. Bergoglio regrets what happened to two priests under the dictatorship in Argentina, and Benedict admits he knew about Marcial Maciel's abuse and said nothing. Silence in these cases was a kind of betrayal.
Where to see it: The confession. The two men hear each other's confessions and absolve each other.
Questions