Down on his luck after losing both his job and his girlfriend, actor Jake Scully’s fortunes seem to turn when he lands a house-sitting job in a luxury Hollywood Hills home. His curiosity gets the better of him when he uses the house telescope to watch a neighbour, but he soon becomes witness to her brutal murder. Desperate for the truth, Scully plunges into the seedy underbelly of the adult film world.

Brian De Palma’s Body Double is a provocative, neon-soaked tribute to Hitchcockian suspense, blending the voyeuristic tension of Rear Window (1954) with the psychological obsession of Vertigo (1958). Set against a backdrop of a slick, superficial 1980s Los Angeles, Body Double is a controversial exploration of the male gaze and the blurred lines between reality and performance, making it one of the most polarising and visually arresting thrillers of its era.

This screening is part of Violet Hour’s City of Angels season, where we peel back the silver screen and gaze into the sordid underworld of Los Angeles. A city of duality, this season is an ode to the ultimate American nightmare masquerading as a dream.

About Violet Hour

Violet Hour showcases the dark, transgressive and enigmatic side of the screen. Exploring the darker aspects of life through cinema, we screen and discuss works that unsettle, undo us and challenge our perceptions ~