SUSPECT ZERO

US, 2004, 99 minutes, Colour.
Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Carrie- Anne Moss, Harry Lennix, Keith Campbell.
Directed by E. Elias Merhige.

Suspect Zero is a police thriller, an FBI agent tracking down a serial killer across the United States but finding that on technicalities he was set free. The agent is played by Aaron Eckhart. Carrie- Anne Moss is his associate.

The agent has a capacity for looking into the future but there is another agent, in an institution, played by Ben Kingsley who also has the gift and continues to communicate messages to the agent, especially when there are further killings and the agent is trying to make connections to see whether a serial killer is at work.

The film has some suspense in its action, although audiences may work out what is happening before the final twist is revealed.

The film was directed by E. Elias Merhige who directed the offbeat story of the making of the silent German film, Nosferatu, Shadow of a Vampire, with John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe.

1. A serial killer film? Themes and vengeance? FBI agents? Powers out of the ordinary? The toll?

2. The title, the theory about the killer, going across the United States undetected? In fact in the plot of this film?

3. The New Mexico setting, the towns and the diners, homes, FBI Office, doctor’s surgery, institutes and rooms? The countryside, the roads, the isolated house? The musical score?

4. The visual style, the blend of the wheel and the surreal, the raid sequences and O’ Ryan’s seeing situations? Thomas seeing situations? The lectures? Work at home? Words and codes and close-ups? The exercise of the special powers? The consequences?

5. The effect on O’ Ryan, institutionalized, sending messages to Tom, his attending the religious service in the church and his tears? Tired, wanting to die?

6. The introduction, the sinister atmosphere, Harold as an ordinary travelling salesman, eating, the diner, getting a fright with a person at the window, O’ Ryan accosting him, showing him the pictures? Harold going to his car, O’ Ryan in the car, the crash, Harold’s death, the wreckage, Tom on the scene, lifting of the car and his commanding the worker to stop, the examination of the crime scene?

7. O’ Ryan, seeing his room, the maps, sending the messages, the teacher, the circle and the zero, the meaning, eyes being plucked from the victims, enlarged? Starkey, the rape attempt, his death?

8. Tom, his character, his arrival, his history, his mistakes, explaining his history, O’ Ryan’s room and all the documentation about Tom and his failure? Transferring to Albuquerque, the boss and his reaction, letter of the law and investigation? Bill and his help? His character, his pain, aches, ESP powers?

9. Fran, her arrival, the past relationship with Tom? The boss and his reaction? Talking to them both, their relationship, Fran wanting to be equal partner? Tom and his tendency to take over? The car, Harold’s death, the later visit to his wife, her not suspecting anything, the search and the discovery? The teacher, the photos, the boys, uncovering his crimes?

10. The effect on Tom, the puzzle, Fran and her help, visiting the rooms, the manager of the home, the other inmates, the bizarre experiences, O’ Ryan and his FBI claim, his name not being on the books?

11. What if… O’ Ryan was an agent and an avenger? O’ Ryan as a helper rather than a killer? The truck, the police pursuit, stopping O’ Ryan?

12. The meeting, the image of the mesa, the reality, the handcuffs? Audience judgment on O’ Ryan? The truck, the house, the chase, the crash? Tom, the cuffs, unsure? O’ Ryan explaining the selection of the agents, tests, their training, action in the field, breakdown and mental disorder?

13. The final confrontation between Tom and O’ Ryan, calling Fran, the other forces, O’ Ryan and his plea to die, seeing the future, his being shot?

14. Tom, his capacities, having seen O’ Ryan, his powers and their toll, his destiny?