Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, 78/52 scores 7.5/10 across five categories — strongest on Novelty (Well Above Average), weakest on Ending (Below Average).
Ranked among Quartile’s Top Novelty.
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.