The Conversation (1974)

The Conversation is a slow-burning, paranoid psychological thriller about Harry Caul, a brilliant but intensely private San Francisco surveillance expert who makes his living wiring and recording other people's lives. When a routine job to capture a young couple's conversation yields snippets that suggest they may be in mortal danger, Harry’s professional detachment collapses into a crisis of conscience: did his work set in motion a murder, and should he turn the tape over to the mysterious client who commissioned it? The film immerses you in a world of claustrophobic isolation, moral ambiguity and obsessive listening — punctuated by a jazz-tinged, carefully layered sound design that makes every hiss, street noise and fragment of speech significant. Viewing it, you’ll be drawn into Harry’s unraveling: the mounting tension, the paranoia, the erosion of trust in colleagues and friends, and a creeping dread that the truth is more dangerous and deceptive than it first appears. Expect a quiet, methodical pace, taut atmosphere, and an ending that lingers, prompting uncomfortable questions about privacy, responsibility and the cost of knowing too much.

Actors: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Runtime: 113 min

Genres: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

7.3 /10 88 /100 7.7 /10 7.9 /10