Gaslight(1944)

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Review By: Janhavi Singh Deo

This 1940s black and white thriller is a gem if you haven’t watched it yet. The story revolves around a girl (Paula) who falls in love with a man (Gregory) and what happens after that. The movie starts with young Paula and it’s shown that her aunt who is a famous opera singer was murdered in her own house in London. Paula lived with her aunt because her mother died when she was very young. Naturally, when the aunt dies, Paula is sent to a different place and it’s expected of her to become like her aunt. Paula falls in love with a man (Gregory) in Italy and they get married. Gregory suggests to move back to London and Paula is a bit hesitant but agrees and they end up in the same house where Paula’s aunt was murdered.

So, after they get married and move back to London, Gregory starts to make Paula believe that she does senseless and meaningless things. When you are watching the movie, you might feel like no one is that naïve to just believe someone but when you see it from the perspective of Paula genuinely loving her husband and believing that he would never say anything that isn’t at her best interest, it would actually make sense why Paula believed Gregory. The husband went to such an extent to completely frighten her out of her wits, in part by dimming the gaslights in the house and blaming it on her imagination. Paula was also not allowed to leave the house because of her peculiar behavior and Gregory was jealous of others showing an interest in her as well. The real motive of Gregory and what happens towards the end will not disappoint you. I did not expect how the movie ended and it surely took me by surprise.

The lead actress Ingrid Bergman, who plays Paula, is a spectacular actor and also won an Oscar for this movie. Without her amazing performance of the victim and how well she played this role, this movie wouldn’t have been the same. The lead actor Charles Boyer, who plays Gregory, was also so phenomenal at playing the part of a diabolical husband who plans to drive his wife mad through a series of false accusations. There are more characters in the movie who are very important but leaving that from this review, I would highly suggest you all to watch it find out what happens and how the story unfolds.