After chipping away at the edges of success, the Coens’ particular brand of humour, sharp writing, plotting and stylized language was fully realised in this gem of a thriller, which contrasts the horror of the crime with the values of small town family life, through the person of indomitable police chief and very pregnant Marge (a storming Frances McDormand). Countless memorable scenes and lines combined with the Coens’ meticulously detailed direction gained them a host of new fans and a firm place in contemporary American cinema.

This film is being screened as part of Essential Cinema:The 1990s and will be introduced by IADT lecturer, Tom Kennedy.