Those who know me pretty much know I love psychological thriller movies. Even people who have no interest in movies get to put up with me rambling about the plot twist in Se7en, or how crappy The Ring was.
Arlington Road is such a great movie, it's hard to put into words sometimes. it may just be the 2nd greatest thriller at time. Revealing the plot without spoiling the movie is the hard part, but I'll try my best. Michael Farraday is a widower after his wife is brutally gun down by an extremist right wing group in a FBI bust gone wrong. Years later, he teaches a class on terrorism and tries to raise his son, with new girlfriend.
At the start of the movie, he is driving home from a hard day at work when he sees a kid with a fucked up hand injury walking down the street. He takes the kid to the hospital, then meets the kid's parents, which turns out to be the worst thing that could have ever happened to him.
The neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Lang, seem perfectly normal. But something's not right, and after hints and clues, Michael Farraday is convinced his nice and innocent neighbors are terrorists. Are they really, or is he a madman hell bent on framing them for his crimes? Or is his paranoia really getting to him? He did lose his wife and students are saying he's growing increasingly psyhoctic in class...
Let me just stop there, and say that even when you think you know, you don't know, and the ending is THE BEST ending ever, beating The Vanishing by several miles. If you like Hollywood endings, go watch something else. If you like realistic movies with endings that make sense without being too cheesy or harsh, you've come to the right place.
This movie will teach you something. Not everything is as it seems, and evil doesn't have to come from logical places. The clues present in the movie may not seem obvious at first, but upon repeat viewing, the "shocking" ending of the original (complete with (**MINOR SPOILER**) one of the best conspiracies ever) viewing lose its luster, but you will NOT see it coming on 1st viewing, and the clues are there to piece it together and prove that the ending makes TOTAL sense and is totally awesome.
This is a thrilling movie with awesome acting, great story, and an amazing plot twist that has to be seen to be believed. SEE THIS NOW. Your paranoia may be real, you know.