Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
The most famous murder scene in movie history comprises 78 camera settings and 52 cuts: the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. 78/52 tells the story of the man behind the curtain and his greatest obsession.
78/52 earns high marks for Novelty by dedicating an entire feature documentary to the forensic deconstruction of a single film scene — a genuinely singular and obsessive premise that no other documentary quite replicates. Its focus on the craft of Hitchcock's shower scene in Psycho, blending talking-head interviews with filmmakers and scholars alongside meticulous visual analysis, makes it a distinctive love letter to cinema mechanics. The cinematography is competent and stylishly shot in black-and-white for portions, befitting the subject, but doesn't transcend the documentary form. The plot (structure) is solid and well-paced for what it is — a deep dive — though its episodic interview format can feel familiar. Acting is not a primary concern in a documentary, but interview subjects are engaging enough. The ending trails off somewhat without a strong concluding statement, leaving the film feeling like it runs out of momentum after its analytical peak.