The next time someone trots out the canard about using narration as a sign of weak filmmaking skills, throw Terence Malick’s debut back in their face. Forget the writer/director’s nascent visual style. It’s the pitch-perfect narration that Malick puts in the voice of Sissy Spacek’s smalltown teen that imbues this retelling of a real-life Midwestern murder spree with a soul. A perfect film. -Lee Gardner

1973 Terrence Malick  1.85:1 Color DCP 94 min.