Insect or man, death should always be painless

Psycho

(1960)

Yes, this is a great oddball suspenser, the mother of all slasher films, but my favorite part is tucked away early in Marian's flight, when she imagines dialogue from Sam, her boss, her coworker, the lecherous client she has ripped off, the used-car dealer, the state trooper . . . Marian knows the people in her life, even those in her life only momentarily, and moreover she knows people, and how people think and talk. She has already demonstrated a flair for language ("Are you unhappy?" "Not inordinately"), and it seems clear to me that if she can escape the mess she's gotten herself into without a long prison term or some other disaster, she has a real future as a novelist.