Among the images that will stick with me after watching Blood Simple for the first time this week:

Frances McDormand’s cold, haunted stare, illuminated only by a few scattered rays of light shining in through the mess of bullet holes in the wall opposite her.

A pearl-handled revolver exchanging hands on a fog-blanketed field.

And on that field: a sentient, human-sized pile of dirt, slowly inflating and deflating in steady rhythm…

It’s rare for a writer or director’s debut film to be truly indicative of their full creative potential, sure. But the Coen Brothers entered the world of cinema as instant-auteurs with Blood Simple.

Similar in tone to No Country For Old Men, another Coen bros classic, Blood Simple is an illustration of senseless, cyclical violence set against a gritty midwestern backdrop. And, like No Country, Blood Simple bows to no moral compass.

The film centers on four characters:

Julian, a short-fused Bar owner who, after discovering that his wife has been cheating on him, takes a hit out on her and her partner.

Abby, the wife in mention. The pearl-handled handgun used as the primary instrument of violence throughout the film belongs to her.

Ray, the other participant in the tryst, who also works for Julian as a bartender.

Visser, the greaseball hitman hired by Julian. Think of him as an R-rated version of Boss Hog from Dukes of Hazzard.

Visser stages the murder, using a carefully-doctored set of photos to convince Julian of the job’s completion and secure his $10,000 payday. Abby and Ray were never harmed, or even aware that the hit was ordered in the first place. Plot twist: it’s Julian who winds up facing down the barrel of Visser’s revolver.

In true Coen brothers fashion, the remaining hour of the short-but-potent film is a labyrinth of blood and deception in which no assumptions are safe, all culminating in one of the most suspenseful neo-noir finales of all time. Have fun decoding that final frame. —Jackson Todd