Rent The Grifters (1990)

Slow Burn and Mummy Issues - The Grifters review by griggs

I struggled with The Grifters at first. The opening 30-40 minutes are pure exposition–endless setup with barely any tension–and I couldn’t help thinking it was wasting a cracking cast. But once it finally gets going, it twists into something much darker and more compelling. This isn’t a film about charming con artists tricking some poor sap–it’s about three grifters trying to outmanoeuvre each other with increasingly brutal results.

Cusack is solid as the small-time hustler trying to punch above his weight. Bening channels full-blown femme female chaos, and Huston is just ice-cold–easily the standout. What really got me, though, was the undercurrent of something deeper. These people aren’t just playing games for money; they’re trapped in a cycle of manipulation and damage that feels weirdly tragic. The final act pulls it out of the bag–bleak, inevitable, and properly gutting. Not flawless, but it definitely left a mark.