History is famously written by winners. And, since it’s in our innate nature to root for the good guys, it’s no wonder that most of our stories are straightforward moral tales of the victory of the good over evil.
But what if we flipped this narrative? What if we let the bad guys tell their side of the story? We always see the world through the heroes’ eyes; what if we saw it through villains’ eyes?
It’s quite interesting, actually. When the villains and antiheroes control the narrative wheel, the story becomes a funhouse mirror. Because in a hero’s tale, we (not always, but usually) only see the villains’ actions. We never see their motives, circumstances, rhythm, logic, or loneliness.
And then, of course, there is that morbid curiosity to be inside the corrupt mind. Be it a deluded social climber, a self-serving businessman, a cold-blooded serial killer, or someone just a mental click away from total moral collapse, it feels pretty damn inviting to see a world through their scratched, cracked, and dark lenses.
Obviously, just because they get to tell their stories, they don’t get to justify their bad deeds. All they get is the chance to expose the thin line that separates their villainy from their victimhood, if any.
11 Villains, the Storytellers
1. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Written by: Stanley Kubrick | Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Villain/POV Character: Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell)
In a futuristic dystopian Britain, Alex, a charismatic but antisocial, vile, and vicious psychopath, wanders around with his delinquent buddies, committing rape, theft, and extreme violence. His villainy persists until he is captured and put through an experimental reformative process.
Alex is one of those movie characters who serves as the protagonist, the antagonist, and the narrator. Kubrick’s choice to give him so much control lets the audience into his acutely deformed sensibilities and worldview. When we see the world through his callous and remorseless eyes, we get a meditative understanding of free will and moral conditioning.
2. Scarface (1983)
Written by: Oliver Stone | Directed by: Brian De Palma
Villain/POV Character: Tony Montana (Al Pacino)
Tony Montana comes to the US as a Cuban refugee and rises to be a drug kingpin within the crime world of Miami. His character journey is marked by ambition, paranoia, violence, and ultimate downfall.
The film’s thematic core is the fallacy of power. Tony goes on committing violence, thinking he is winning, while being unaware that every time he lets his ego control him, he is stepping closer to his ruin. Packaged like a crime saga, Scarface is, in fact, a study of a man who mistakes greed as a driving factor for greatness and power. The film also marks one of Al Pacino’s epic performances.
3. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Written by: Richard Fire, John McNaughton | Directed by: John McNaughton
Villain/POV Character: Henry (Michael Rooker)
Loosely based on Henry Lee Lucas, a real-life serial killer, the movie tracks Henry’s and his partner’s exploration of a grim, detached world of violence.
Aside from the sheer number of killings, what separates a serial killer from a one-time murderer? Or what makes him more nefarious? It’s the mundanity of his violence. An almost office-goer-like dispassionate motive. And that’s how Henry haunts us. His lack of emotion gives us a free tour into his utterly apathetic mind, and makes his story one of the most disturbing villain-driven films ever made.
4. Goodfellas (1990)
Written by: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese | Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Villain/POV Character: Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
Henry Hill, an impressionable teenager, takes a misguided liking to the gangster life and meticulously works towards becoming one. He does. And also goes down like one, under constant paranoia and betrayal.
Again, a first-person narrative, Goodfellas feels like a confession. Scorsese lets Henry’s voice lure the audience, turning the film into a demonstration of how easy it is to view power through rose-colored glasses. It also shows that this romance with the crime comes with preordained guilt and ruin.
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Written by: Anthony Minghella | Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Villain/POV Character: Tom Ripley (Matt Damon)
Tom, a social outsider, is mistaken by a wealthy shipbuilding magnate as a fellow alumnus of his rebellious son, Dickie (Jude Law). He sends Tom to Italy with money so he can bring the hedonist Dickie back. Tom, however, develops a taste for luxury and puts into action an elaborate plan to steal not only Dickie’s identity but also his life.
The story’s narrative grip resides in the strange mix of Tom’s awkward, fretful, almost goofy predisposition and his cold, calculative duplicity. The film doesn’t leave any of its intentions to imagination; we see an enigma called Tom unravel in real time. After the movie ends, what remains with us is the guy who spiraled from being desperate to belong to pure evil, and a villain who actually won.
6. American Psycho (2000)
Written by: Mary Harron, Guinevere Turner | Directed by: Mary Harron
Villain/POV Character: Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale)
Patrick is a wealthy investment banker who is narcissistic, competitive, vain, and aloof. By night, he is also a cold, calculating, and sadistic serial killer. The film tracks his duplicitous life in a world that is driven by surface perfection.
The film’s first-person narration is unusually tidy, well-manicured, and articulate, but also unreliable—just the way Patrick is. When we explore his world through his insane, self-absorbed perspective, we can’t make out if this is a satire or horror. No matter how deranged his tale is, it is also a metaphor for what happens when capitalism and vanity unite to create complete madness.
7. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson | Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Villain/POV Character: Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis)
Daniel, an oil prospector, is ready to do or destroy anything and anyone to amass wealth. In short, this is a classic representative tale of an unrepentant and absolutely selfish journey from rags to riches.
The theme that runs through every root and branch of the film is a ruthless but lonely quest for dominance. Daniel becomes a cautionary tale of chasing ambition and self-interest at the cost of moral decay. This, outwardly a story of greed, basically highlights the black hole where a soul should be.
8. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Written by: John Logan | Directed by: Tim Burton
Villain/POV Character: Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp)
A wronged barber, unfairly treated, convicted, and exiled, returns home, hungry for revenge. His animosity is towards a corrupt judge, but his vengeance spreads far beyond his target. At his barbershop, he preys on completely innocent people in the most heinous way: by slicing their throats and making them ingredients in meat pies.
Sweeney Todd’s vengeful perspective has a bold outline of injustice and grief. This slasher-horror cum revenge drama culminates in operatic insanity and torment. Burton molds this Gothic tragedy in a way that leaves a lingering question in our heads: can any amount of revenge ever satisfy the pain it’s borne from?
9. Nightcrawler (2014)
Written by: Dan Gilroy | Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Villain/POV Character: Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal)
This is the story of Lou, a petty thief-turned-freelance photojournalist, who films violent footage and sells it as sensational news to the ratings-hungry media channels.
Lou functions through morally reprehensible and purely self-serving ways. He has a complete lack of empathy and pursues success without any consideration for who he hurts—or destroys. When we see him as someone who believes success is like hurdling and morals are the hurdles, we can’t help but reflect on the real-life counterparts we meet in the corporate world. Nightcrawler is capitalism at its worst.
10. Gone Girl (2014)
Written by: Gillian Flynn | Directed by: David Fincher
Villain/POV Character: Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike)
Amy goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, making her husband Nick (Ben Affleck) the prime suspect. As the media-fueled mystery intensifies, Amy, through her voice-over narration, comes across as a deeply manipulative person who has orchestrated all this drama herself.
Just when the audience has come to believe that it’s a murder mystery, Amy manifests, turning the movie into a psychological war. Through Amy’s voice, the audience explores control, performance, and the fine art of manipulation.
11. Joker (2019)
Written by: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver | Directed by: Todd Phillips
Villain/POV Character: Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix)
A failed stand-up comedian, a lonely mental patient, and the sole caretaker of his ailing mother, Arthur tries to make sense of Gotham City that constantly pushes him to the margins, mocks him, and then ignores him. A walking ticking bomb, Arthur soon explodes into a terrifying version of himself.
This was the first time, in the world of Gotham, Batman took a step back, and Joker had the stage—and he used it optimally. With his insightful portrayal of a deeply disturbed individual, Joaquin Phoenix brought to life the comic book villain and turned him into a profoundly tragic figure. The audience can’t help but feel horrified and numb to witness a measly, pitiable figure transforming into the legendary psychopathic supervillain that they know.