Taglines: Sooner or later a man who wears two faces forgets which one is real.
Primal Fear movie storyline. Martin Vail is a Chicago defense attorney who loves the public spotlight and does everything he can to get his high-profile clients acquitted on legal technicalities. One day, he sees a news report about the arrest of Aaron Stampler, a young altar boy from Kentucky with a severe stutter, who is accused of brutally murdering the beloved Archbishop Rushman. Vail jumps at the chance to represent the young man pro bono.
During his meetings at the county jail with Stampler, Vail comes to believe that his client is innocent, much to the chagrin of the prosecutor (and Vail’s former lover), Janet Venable. As the murder trial begins, Vail discovers that powerful civic leaders, including the corrupt state’s attorney John Shaughnessy, have lost millions of dollars in real estate investments due to a decision by the Archbishop not to develop on certain church lands.
The Archbishop received numerous death threats as a result. Following a tip from a former altar boy about a videotape involving Stampler, Vail makes a search of the Archbishop’s apartment and finds a VHS tape of Stampler being forced to have sex with another altar boy and a girl named Linda. Vail is now in a dilemma: introducing this evidence would make Stampler more sympathetic to the jury, but it would also give his client a motive for the murder, which Venable is unable to establish.
When Vail confronts his client and accuses him of having lied, Stampler breaks down crying and suddenly transforms into a new persona: a violent sociopath who calls himself “Roy” and confesses to the murder of the Archbishop. When this incident is over, Stampler once again becomes passive and shy, and appears to have no recollection of the personality switch. Molly Arrington, the psychiatrist examining Stampler, is convinced that he suffers from multiple personality disorder caused by years of abuse at the hands of his father. Vail does not want to hear this, because he knows that he cannot enter an insanity plea during an ongoing trial.
Vail slowly sets up a confrontation in court by dropping hints about the Archbishop’s pedophilia, as well as Stampler’s multiple personalities. He also has the sex tape delivered to Venable, knowing she will realize who sent it and—since she is under intense pressure from both Shaughnessy and her boss Bud Yancy to deliver a guilty verdict—will use it as proof of motive.
Primal Fear is a 1996 American neo-noir crime-thriller film, based on William Diehl’s 1993 novel of the same name and directed by Gregory Hoblit. Primal Fear was a box office success and earned mostly positive reviews, with Edward Norton making a strong showing in his film debut. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.
Primal Fear (1996)
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Terry O’Quinn, Andre Braugher, Steven Bauer, Maura Tierney, Jon Seda
Screenplay by: Steve Shagan, Ann Biderman
Production Design by: Jeannine Oppewall
Cinematography by: Michael Chapman
Film Editing by: David Rosenbloom
Costume Design by: Betsy Cox
Set Decoration by: Cindy Carr
Art Direction by: William Arnold
Music by: James Newton Howard
MPAA Rating: R for brief grisly violence, pervasive strong language and a sex scene.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: April 3, 1996
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