Movies typically follow the golden rule that the good guys usually come out on top. However, there are numerous exceptions to this norm. Some of the most memorable films set up a criminal triumph and the most evil of characters triumph, leaving fans perplexed and terrified that the characters they were pulling for were actually in the wrong. An online discussion explores 15 such movies.
1. Henry F. Potter – It's a Wonderful Life
The title is just ironic. There is nothing wonderful about deliberately ruining a loan and savings association by stealing the money and driving its owner to self-slaughter without being booked for the avarice. Yet, that is precisely what happened to Lionel Barrimore's Henry Potter. If there's anything wonderful, it's that an angel saved his victim.
2. Keyser Soze – The Usual Suspects
Kevin Spacey stars as the mysterious and cunning criminal mastermind in this crime fiction. Söze can control events and outwit law enforcement since his identity is hidden. He ultimately orchestrates a convoluted scheme that confounds law enforcement and eludes punishment, making him one of the most recognizable cinematic characters to have gotten away with it.
3. Guy Woodhouse – Rosemary's Baby
Woodhouse strikes an evil bargain in exchange for assistance with his acting career. The contract included renting out his wife's womb to the devil. Rosemary's maternal instinct, or her fear of the evil she now realizes lives with her (or both), denies her husband any repercussions for his betrayal.
4. Beverly Sutphin – Serial Mom
As a satire on how serial killers are praised by the media instead of punished as they ought to be, Serial Mom presents a violent protagonist who gets away with crimes. Given that her final on-screen crime was committed in the courthouse restrooms and the victim was a juror who had just freed her, it is uncertain whether serial killer/housewife Beverly would get away with it in the movie. Still, she can escape punishment for that last murder as she has managed to charm her way through the trials for the previous bloodshed.
5. Noah Cross – Chinatown
Private detective Jakes Grittes could do nothing as he watched the powerful and exceptionally wealthy Cross plot a colossal conspiracy in 1930 Los Angeles while abusing his daughter and granddaughter. As his love interest (Cross' daughter) is snuffed out, Grittes becomes even more powerless, allowing Cross to walk away.
6. Jordan Belfort – The Wolf of Wall Street
Through his financial misdeeds in The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort causes a lot of harm to others. Belfort, however, gets off incredibly quickly since these crimes are referred to as “white collar” ones. Because he isn't as physically aggressive as many other criminal figures, Martin Scorsese has portrayed in his films. The punishment he receives is a slap on the wrist, and in the years that followed, his account of his time on Wall Street helped him to gain even more money.
7. Patrick Bateman – American Psycho
If the final speech is any indication, Bateman's (Christian Bale) emotional and mental state is not good. Although the effects of his murders, whether real or imagined, may be starting to affect him, he receives no real, effective punishment. At one point in the film, the detective (played by Willem Dafoe), who may or may not be suspecting Bateman, vanishes.
8. Nurse Ratched – One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
She is the tyrannical and deceitful nurse in charge of looking after the patients at this psychiatric facility. She had a patient lobotomized for attacking her, pushing another patient to self-destruction. Ratched's ability to get away with her crimes illustrates her impunity and how dire her patients' situation were.
9. Anton Chigurh – No Country for Old Men
Chigurh is a brutal killer who chooses the destiny of his potential victims by literally tossing a coin. The movie centers on Sheriff Ed Tom Bell's (Tommy Lee Jones) attempts to apprehend Chigurh as he searches for money from a botched heroin deal. The brutality of contemporary criminal violence eventually overwhelms Bell, a seasoned law enforcement officer, who decides to retire. At the very end, Chigurh is hurt in a car accident but manages to escape without ever being caught.
10. Amy Dunne – Gone Girl
Amy Dunne thinks the best course of action is to stage her death and frame it as though Nick had slayed her after realizing that her marriage to Nick isn't a match made in heaven. As Nick's life spins out of control, Amy changes her mind and decides that the only way to clean up her mess is to kill a guy and make it appear as though it was in self-defense. She goes back to living with Nick, continuing to prosper from the wrongdoing she has committed and maintaining her manipulative and deceitful personality.
11. Hannibal Lecter – The Silence of The Lambs
It seemed that Hannibal, “the Cannibal” Lecter, was getting what he deserved. In addition to being in jail, he is also in a special section reserved for the most dangerous offenders. Stone makes up the walls, and the door is substantial. But he discovers the ideal way to escape—a complex and terrible cunning scheme that only he could pull off. He can escape from the FBI, and with his sophisticated desire for human flesh, he returns to the bustling city.
12. Aaron Stampler – Primal Fear
Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) is incarcerated for killing a Catholic archbishop. Young and facing life in prison, he is only 19 years old. In court, Aaron's dissociative personality disorder diagnosis is used as a defense by Martin Vail, his lawyer (Richard Gere). It succeeds in getting Aaron moved to a mental health center, where he will probably be discharged in a few months. Aaron does not have several personas. Roy is the real guy, and sweet-natured Aaron is the invention. Through this trick, he avoids receiving a severe penalty.
13. Catherine Tramell – Basic Instinct
Catherine Tramell is a seductive person who is manipulative, and Sharon Stone plays her to absolute perfection. But does she use an ice pick to kill and seduce men? Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) attempts to figure it out even as he begins a passionate relationship with her. But she's also intelligent enough to pin her crimes on Nick's on-again, off-again lover for her misdeeds. She so successfully frames the other woman that the detective ultimately shoots her.
14. Tom Ripley – The Talented Mr. Ripley
Tom will do everything it takes to become “somebody.” He seizes the chance when it arises, slaying his wealthy friend with a boat oar before assuming that friend's identity. That's one of the many crimes to achieve his goal. The cops took the crime at face value and never really investigated it as far as they should. By the conclusion, Tom maintains his newfound status and inherits his friend's inheritance.
15. Darth Sidious – Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith
Sidious required skill and manipulation to initiate the events that would give him the most potent Sith Apprentice ever seen. Nothing stopped Sidious from carrying out his masterful plans to overthrow the Jedi Order and establish a Galactic Empire under his dominion. In the end, Sith governs the galaxy, and the few Jedi Order survivors are compelled to go into hiding while they wait for a new hope to materialize.
Source: (Reddit).
