Aside from a supernatural plot, the true terror of Roman Polanski’s 1968 game-changer is saved until the very final scene – for all the possible plots the titular protagonist imagined, she could not possibly envision just how truly horrific her fate would be, or, ultimately, how complicit she could become in it. Along the way, it offers enough genre elements, from Satanists to conspiracies to suicides to that indelible dream sequence to heaps and heaps of Catholic guilt, to satisfy anyone out for the more tangible pleasures of the form. But it ultimately comes down to Mia Farrow, shutting herself off in that phone booth, trying to convince the world that her insanity isn’t a dream – this is really happening.
Fantastic film. Definitely one of the finest horror films ever made.