Psychology technique · used in 10 films
Placing people in a pressured situation where politeness and rules fall apart. The film watches panic or fear turn ordinary people into something cruder, sometimes for laughs.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1944
As hunger and thirst grow, so does the group's willingness to do ugly things. After Gus is pushed overboard and Willi's flask turns up, the survivors beat him and throw him into the sea. The end tests them again, when Rittenhouse wants to kill a wounded young German.
Where to see it: Willi's death. After Joe pulls the flask from Willi's shirt, all but Joe beat Willi and toss him overboard.
Steven Spielberg · 1979
Everyone in Los Angeles expects an attack. Soldiers put an anti-aircraft gun in a family's front yard, and amateur spotters watch the sky from a Ferris wheel. A reading is that the film makes fun of how fear turns a crowd foolish.
Where to see it: The Santa Monica scenes. Sgt. Tree and his tank crew install an anti-aircraft gun in the Douglas family's front yard.
Robert Altman · 2000
Good manners fall apart in public places where they matter most. A wealthy wife strips in a mall fountain while shopping for the wedding registry, and the whole social world around her goes quiet. It shows how thin the rules are.
Where to see it: The fountain: Dr. T's wife Kate undresses in the mall fountain at Tiffany's. She is committed to a state mental hospital.
Bong Joon-ho · 2006
After the attack, officials quarantine the survivors and claim the creature carries a deadly virus. The family has to escape their own government to look for the girl. Official rules and the truth keep getting in the way of the rescue.
Where to see it: The quarantine. Gang-du is held by officials and escapes to search for his daughter after she phones from the sewers.
Frank Darabont · 2007
The supermarket is a pressure cooker. Shoppers who were polite at the start fall into fear, then into factions. By the end, the people inside the store are as dangerous as the creatures outside.
Where to see it: The night in the store. Insects and winged creatures attack, and the survivors split into groups.
Roman Polanski · 2011
The couples start friendly. Then comments about the hamster and about parenting sting, and the Scotch loosens everyone. By the end Nancy drunkenly says she is glad her son hit theirs.
Where to see it: The Scotch: Michael offers a glass of fine Scotch, and the conversation turns into personal attacks.
Ruben Östlund · 2017
The guests start out polite, but the performance pushes them past the point where rules hold. You watch ordinary people turn into a crowd, which is both funny and frightening.
Where to see it: The dinner turns: The patrons react to Oleg's act and the evening falls apart.
Asghar Farhadi · 2018
The family tries to stay polite while the pressure rises. Then suspicions spread from one person to another, and old resentments and money worries come out. A happy wedding becomes a scene of accusation.
Where to see it: The ransom scramble. The family keeps the police out and tries to raise the money, and suspicion moves from person to person.
Sam Esmail · 2023
Civilized people lose the rules they live by once the phones and internet go down. Hosts and guests argue over trust, food and who belongs. The panic is quiet and polite until it is not.
Where to see it: G.H.'s warning. G.H. describes a three-stage campaign to topple a country from within: isolation, chaos and misinformation, then a breakdown of social order.
Questions