Vertigo

Vertigo is a 1958 American film noir psychological thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock. The story was based on the 1954 novel D'entre les morts (From Among the Dead) by Boileau-Narcejac. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A. Taylor.

Plot
An ex-police officer who suffers from an intense fear of heights is hired to prevent an old friend's wife from committing suicide, but all is not as it seems. Hitchcock's haunting, compelling masterpiece is uniquely revelatory about the director's own predilections and hang-ups and is widely considered to be one of his masterworks.

Why It Will Cure Vertigo

 * 1) This is the film that introduced filmography to the famous "dolly zoom" sequence sometimes known as the "Vertigo Effect" which got used in various other films. It's basically a forward zoom with a reverse dolly meant to achieve a disorienting effect of shifting perspectives
 * 2) James Stewart and Kim Novak do incredible and emotional performances as their characters. Kim Novak even manages to nail a double role as "Madeleine Elster" and Judy Barton who (spoiler alert:) turn out to be the same person.
 * 3) * Barbara Bel Geddes' character Midge Wood offers as a counterpoint to Madeleine
 * 4) With the lead being asked investigate a friend's beautiful but death-obsessed wife, possessed by the spirit of her suicidal great-grandmother and having an annoying tendency to disappear and go into trances, said lead's going to follow her for a few days and see where she's been going. Sounds like a mystery movie or a ghost story, right? Nope. Scottie falls passionately in lust with this gorgeous but troubled woman, but the woman throws herself from a bell tower in an old Spanish mission that she's seen during her trances. As a result, Scottie's tortured again by guilt because his acrophobia and vertigo kept him from following her up the bell tower stairs and saving her. His attempt to "resurrect" his dead lover by recreating her in another woman ends again in tragedy, as Scottie realizes he's been the victim of a devastating deception and an unwitting accomplice to a murder. As usual, Hitchcock does an excellent job providing suspense and twists that keeps the audience guessing.
 * 5) Unlike Hitchcock's previous films, this one doesn't have real set pieces, displays of dazzling technique, chases or even villains to resolve the story (even Gavin Elster -- the closest thing the film has to a villain-- disappears after a few scenes at the beginning), resulting in the film being less of the usual heart-pounding thriller that Hitchcock's renowned for and more of a deep character study between the two leads. Hitchcock's leaving the audience confused for a change.
 * 6) Hitchcock was stated to have loved to explore human psychology in all its weirdness and complexity, which all comes together in this film. As stated above, the film makes you think you're watching a mystery movie, but really we're getting some ideas about what it means to fall in love with an illusion. The psychological themes are also very relatable for viewers who have ever been in a similar situation, if not a bit far-fetched
 * 7) It's often been stated that the film is a movie about the movies—about the relationship between the creator and the image created, and the voyeuristic nature of watching films. Leading lady Kim Novak told an interviewer, "It was the opportunity to express what was going on between me and Hollywood".
 * 8) Stunningly beautiful effects that look nearly completely real.
 * 9) The sound in the film is controlled as closely as the visuals, including the film's score, which really helps add to the suspense.
 * 10) Judy Barton is a very tragic and relatable character, as she was not only forced to Gavin's scheme, she also never gets to spend her time with Scottie as herself and was forced to become Scottie's dream girl.
 * 11) The dream sequence is considered to not only be the memorable part of the film but is also regarded as the scariest dream sequence ever made.
 * 12) Iconic poster design, which featured the film's main protagonist hallucinating himself to the point where he thinks that he's falling.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Gavin Elster is a pretty underdeveloped antagonist who gets barely any screen time.
 * 2) While creepy, the dream sequence can cause epilepsy due to its use of flashing colours.
 * 3) They are a couple of minor flaws in logic in the plot, although these may be forgiven considering the lead character's suffering from necrophibia with may alter how he thinks.

Reception
Although initially receiving mixed reception upon release, it was met with critical acclaim from audiences and critics in later years and is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, on Metacritic, the film has a perfect score of 100, indicating “universal acclaim”, it has a 94% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Trivia

 * 1) A video game inspired by the film is slated to be released in December 2021 for modern consoles and is published by Microids.