Actor Timothy Hutton (1960)

The biographical crime thriller film All the Money in the World (2017), directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa, is based on John Pearson’s book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty. It centers around the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and his grandfather’s refusal to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. Set in Rome during that time, a group of masked men abduct teenage John Paul, while his grandfather Jean Paul remains ...

The American legal drama thriller series, How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020), premiered on ABC in 2014 and concluded in 2020. Created by Peter Nowalk and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios, the show follows Annalise Keating, a prominent criminal defense attorney and law professor at Middleton University in Philadelphia. Annalise handpicks five first-year students from her class to intern at her firm: Wes Gibbins, Connor Walsh, Michaela Pratt, Asher Millstone, and Laurel Castillo (collectively known as The Keating 5). They work alongside Annalise’s ...

The American spy film, The Good Shepherd (2006), was both produced and directed by Robert De Niro. Following the disastrous end of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, suspicions arise about a potential ‘mole’ within the CIA. Senior officer Edward Wilson returns home to find a photograph and audio tapes that have been tampered with, leaving some details unclear. Flashing back to his time at Yale University in 1939, Wilson is invited to join the Skull and Bones fraternity where he reveals that he discovered but never read his father’s suicide note. His father, an admiral who had been considered for ...

The film Secret Window (2004) is a psychological thriller featuring Johnny Depp and John Turturro. Written and directed by David Koepp, it is based on Stephen King’s novella Secret Window, Secret Garden. After finding his wife Amy in an affair with their friend Ted, mystery writer Mort Rainey seeks solace in his cabin at Tashmore Lake, while Amy remains in their home. Although they have been separated for six months, Mort has yet to finalize their divorce due ...

Kinsey (2004) is a biographical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon, exploring the life of Alfred Charles Kinsey, a pioneer in the field of sexology. The movie follows Professor Kinsey as he discusses his sexual history, while also delving into flashbacks from his childhood and young adulthood. These flashbacks show the strict views of his father, a lay minister who believed modern inventions led to sin, and how this affected Kinsey’s upbringing. As a teenager, he faced humiliation for being exposed to cigarettes and later disappoints his father with his chosen career path. The adult Kinsey becomes a ...

The American mystery thriller film, The General’s Daughter (1999), was helmed by director Simon West. During his time in Georgia, undercover agent Chief Warrant Officer Paul Brenner from the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command assumes the identity of First Sergeant Frank White to orchestrate a forbidden weapons exchange with a rebel leader. While at Fort MacCallum, Brenner experiences car trouble and receives assistance from Captain Elisabeth Campbell, who serves as a psychological operations officer and is also the daughter of Lieutenant General Joseph ‘Fighting Joe’ Campbell, ...

Playing God (1997) is an American dramatic crime thriller directed by Andy Wilson and written by Mark Haskell Smith. The protagonist, Eugene Sands, loses his medical license due to operating while under the influence of amphetamines and opiates. He gets entangled with a crime boss named Raymond Blossom after saving a stranger’s life in a bar with an emergency procedure to inflate their collapsed lung. Blossom hires Sands as his private doctor, tending to his associates when they cannot seek medical attention elsewhere, as well as providing care for the crime lord ...

The Dark Half (1993) is a film based on Stephen King’s 1989 novel of the same name. It was both written and directed by George A. Romero. Thad Beaumont, a writer known for his acclaimed literary works, also has a successful career writing bestselling thrillers under the pseudonym ‘George Stark’. After deciding to retire his pen name, Beaumont symbolically buries ‘Stark’ in a fake grave. However, something strange happens – Stark takes on a physical form and begins terrorizing those close to Beaumont, starting with local photographer ...

Taps (1981), an American thriller starring George C. Scott, features Cadet Brian Moreland dining privately with General Harlan Bache at Bunker Hill Military Academy. During their meeting, Moreland is promoted to the highest cadet rank of Cadet Major by Bache. The following day, it’s announced that the school will be sold to real estate developers, but will remain open for one more year to allow seniors to graduate and underclassmen to find new schools. Bache and the cadets are hopeful that this decision will save their beloved academy. After commencement, a dance is held at the academy, during which local ...