Psychology technique · used in 7 films
Binding several characters together through a secret wrong that they hold, confess or hide. The guilt is spread among them and shapes how they treat one another.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1953
Logan stays calm and says little while others read his silence as guilt. Hitchcock builds the film on what he cannot say. You feel the weight of a vow that keeps him from saving himself.
Where to see it: The confession. Otto confesses the murder in the church confessional, and Logan can say nothing of it to anyone.
Alfred Hitchcock · 1955
Captain Wiles thinks his stray shot killed Harry. Jennifer thinks she hit him with a milk bottle, and Miss Gravely thinks she did it with a kick from her hiking boot. Each one holds a slice of the blame, and Hitchcock plays that for laughs.
Where to see it: The 3 stories. Each neighbor describes how they believe they killed Harry, and the Captain's shot turns out to have hit only a rabbit.
Sidney Lumet · 1974
No single passenger carries the whole blame. The second solution makes everyone a conspirator, so the crime belongs to the group, and you find it hard to call it plain murder.
Where to see it: The second solution: Poirot's version links every suspect to the Armstrong household, so the stabbing was an act of the whole carriage.
Wes Craven · 1984
The parents of Elm Street hid a crime from their children. Years ago they burned the child killer who got off on a technicality, and the guilt now feeds the monster. The adults do not talk, so the kids are left to find out.
Where to see it: Nancy's mother: she shows Nancy the clawed glove hidden in the furnace and tells her how the parents burned Freddy alive.
Robert Altman · 1993
Three friends find a body while fishing and decide to keep fishing. They tie her to the rocks, report it later and then avoid each other's eyes. The secret stays with them and colors every relationship they have afterward.
Where to see it: The fishing trip: Stuart, Gordon and Vern discover a young woman's body in the water. They tie her to the rocks and continue fishing before reporting it.
Barry Levinson · 1996
The boys swear never to tell what happened to them. That vow ties them together into adulthood and shapes every choice they make about the guards. Silence becomes a bond and a burden.
Where to see it: The vow of silence. Shakes wants to report the abuse, but the others refuse and the boys swear to stay quiet.
William Friedkin · 2000
Hodges and Childers share what happened in Vietnam, and neither can fully say it out loud. When the prosecutor asks Hodges to testify about it, he refuses. The friendship holds because of what they both know.
Where to see it: The prosecutor's request. Mark Biggs asks Hodges to testify about Childers's actions in Vietnam, and Hodges declines.
Questions