I’m astonished that, for a director valued for his sense of suspense, Rope is not seen as his peak in that regard. The real-time single room setting combined with the illusion of a single take brings the tension to life in a way few films are capable of achieving. The stakes are so high and this tunnel focus means that there’s never a second of relaxation. The morality talk in the ending feels a little bogus, but of course, it’s a movie from the ’40s. A definitive example of what it means to be a thriller.