The Story Archive

Blow Out

Brian De Palma · 1981 CE · Film · Modern / American · Contemporary

A sound recordist for cheap horror pictures is out at night collecting wind and owls when he tapes a blowout and a car going through a bridge rail into the creek, and swims down to pull a woman clear. The car held a presidential candidate, and on playback the recordist hears something arriving before the tyre. De Palma's Philadelphia thriller runs on the premise that the evidence exists and nobody will use it.

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Lineage

Attributes

Genre
ThrillerMysteryCrime / Noir
Theme
Appearance vs RealityGuilt & ConsciencePower & CorruptionObsession
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
EverymanShadowVillain / Tyrant
Plot structure
MysteryIronic Reversal
Symbol / motif
The ScreenThe MachineThe City
Conflict
vs Personvs Self
Mode / tone
NoirIronic
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues