Line #11 YMMV/WhatLiesBeneath


1	* CriticalDissonance: One of the highest-grossing movies of 2000 despite middling reviews.
2	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Mary Feur's [[TheImmodestOrgasm very, very loud sex noises]].
3	--> '''Claire:''' What is he ''doing'' to her?
4	* HarsherInHindsight:
5	** In-universe. Norman's [[spoiler: remorse over his affair with Madison and her supposed suicide seems genuine enough to make you feel sorry for him... until you learn that he murdered the poor girl and realize that his "remorse" was either all an act or completely self-centered.]]
6	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Many people who grew up watching Creator/HarrisonFord [[Franchise/StarWars play]] [[Franchise/IndianaJones a]] [[Film/BladeRunner hero]] [[Film/TheFugitive in]] [[Film/PatriotGames so]] [[Film/AirForceOne many]] [[Film/CowboysAndAliens movies]] are actually shocked that not only is he [[spoiler: the killer]], but he plays it just as naturally as he plays his heroes.
7	* ItWasHisSled: God bless this site for trying, but you KNOW that the plot twist is [[spoiler: that Norman is the killer]].
8	* NightmareFuel:
9	** Many, particularly involving [[spoiler:Madison's apparitions, including the corpse.]]
10	** Also, [[spoiler: Norman. After he is revealed as the villain, he drops all the act and becomes a text-book sociopath who calmly explains Claire in detail how he drowned Madison. All the while he is preparing to drown his own wife in the bathtub the same way! And the shocking part is that Norman is indeed played by ''Harrison Ford'' of all people makes it even creepier, because he is playing it as fluently as some of his more heroic roles.]]
11	* OlderThanYouThink: [[spoiler:While it is a surprise that Ford is the BigBad, this is not the first time he played a villain, having played ones such as ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' and a VillainProtagonist in ''Film/TheMosquitoCoast'', in which Ford's character is also a DecoyProtagonist like Norman due to his actor's star power and notability for normally playing heroes. Also, Ford has been offered villain roles before even though he has been passed over for them, such as a CorruptCorporateExecutive in ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'', the titular role as ''Film/TheTerminator,'' and even being considered by Creator/StanleyKubrick for the role of Jack Torrance in ''Film/TheShining''.]]
12	* RetroactiveRecognition: The film was written by Creator/ClarkGregg. Yes, [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Agent]] [[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Coulson]] himself!
13	* SpiritualAdaptation: The film feels like its the more faithful version of the 1977 novel ''Literature/TheShining'' than its infamous [[Film/TheShining 1980 film adaptation]], complete with Creator/MichellePfeiffer as blonde haired Wendy unlike her Sherley Duvall's dark haired 1980 film counterpart; in fact, Creator/StephenKing will like this after he [[DisownedAdaptation disowned]] with Creator/StanleyKubrick's 1980 film adaptation. [[spoiler:The BigBad being played by Creator/HarrisonFord, who was considered by Kubrick for the role of Jack Torrance before Creator/JackNicholson was chosen further helps.]]
14	* ValuesResonance: Throughout the TheEighties and maybe even TheNineties, it would have been more common for [[spoiler: the ghostly mistress to be presented as the villain or even a monster, in the style of Film/FatalAttraction, with the adulterous husband being cast as a sympathetic, flawed hero. Here, Harrison Ford's character TRIES to paint the situation in such a way, but it's all a self-serving lie. The powerful, older, socially respected man being the villain, and the young student he had an affair with being ultimately more sympathetic resonates with post-[=MeToo=] themes.]]
15	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: A FreezeFrameBonus moment, but after Claire collapses on the floor after being drugged, the camera moves towards her and then pulls an impossible camera move and goes under her while looking up, so that suddenly it appears that she is lying on a an invisible floor with the camera gazing up at her through it.

Context YMMV / WhatLiesBeneath