Mindhunter is a new crime drama that had its first season released through Netflix on October 13. Like its name suggests, it is centered around a pair of fictional FBI agents named Holden Ford and Bill Tench, who interview serial killers for the purpose of gaining insight into their mindsets that can be used to catch other criminals. It is interesting to note that Mindhunter makes little use of violent scenes compared to other crime drama featuring serial killers, but it is to its cast and crew’s credit that it somehow manages to be more unsettling because of that narrative choice.
How Does Mindhunter Manage to Be So Unsettling without the Use of Violence?
There are a number of potential explanations for why Mindhunter is so unsettling in spite of its paucity of violence, though it seems probable that each viewer will have their own interpretation.
For example, it is possible that Mindhunter is unsettling because it is unfamiliar. After all, people have become used to seeing scenes of violence as well as scenes of bloodshed on crime dramas, meaning that they have formed certain expectations when they start watching something else in the same genre. However, since Mindhunter minimizes the use of such scenes, the viewers have their expectations thrown off, thus leaving them in a confused state. Something that can make a natural translation to a sense of unease.
On a related note, the expectations that most people have of crime dramas can contribute to a constant sense of tension. This is natural because most people have rather strong reactions to scenes of violence, even if they have become accustomed to them because of the TV as well as partaking of other forms of entertainment. When scenes of violence happen, there is often a sense of release, both because the viewer’s expectations were met and because such scenes tended to be accompanied by some sort of movement in the plot. However, since Mindhunter has a much smaller number of violent scenes than most crime dramas, there is a much prolonged sense of tension, which in turn, contributes to a much prolonged sense of unease.
Finally, perhaps the paucity of violence helps to make Mindhunter seem more realistic, which in turn, helps to remind its viewers that it is based on fact rather than fiction. While Holden Ford and Bill Tench are fictional characters, it is not exactly a secret that Ford is based on the famous FBI agent John E. Douglas, who has been involved in some of the most famous cases in recent decades. Likewise, the relative realism of Mindhunter is a reminder that serial killers are real, thus adding to the sense of unease created by the other factors stated.
Of course, there is no guarantee that these factors are responsible for Mindhunter‘s rather unsettling nature. For that matter, there is no guarantee that interested individuals will find the crime drama unsettling at all, not when different people react in such different ways to the same media. However, there are a lot of people offering up praise of Mindhunter for its attention to its characters as well as its excellent visuals, meaning that those who are interested should make sure to check it out on Netflix when they can find the time.
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