Psycho story
Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and written by Joseph Stefano. It stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles, and Martin Balsam, and was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centers on an encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel's owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.
17 total · 3 choice · 7 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| mother and son | choice | Bates and his overbearing mum |
| multiple personality disorder | choice | Bates has a second personality built on his late mother, who he killed |
| serial murder | choice | We learn that Bates was a serial murderer with a split personality. |
| controlling family member | major | Bates and his overbearing mum |
| engaged couple | major | Sam wrote a letter to his girlfriend Marion agreeing to marry her (albeit not knowing at the time that she had been murdered) |
| matricide | major | Bates had killed his mother. |
| murder | major | Marion was brutally stabbed to death in the shower. |
| sexual norms in society | major | there was much ado about illicit love: Sam meeting secretly with Norma, Bate's mother persona objecting to you girls |
| sister and sister | major | Lila and Marion |
| theft | major | Marion stole $40,000 and ran, then regretted it. |