10 Movies That Gave Just The Right Amount Of Backstory
8. No Country For Old Men
As mentioned in the intro, a backstory can refer to a lot of different things. The world the film is set in, the lead up to the current events or in the case of this entry, a certain character. We know nothing about Anton Chigurh except his abilities. Each time we see him we learn more and the reason that’s so gripping is because he was initially a clean slate. Sure, he was a clean slate that choked someone to death with handcuffs in his very first scene, but that’s how you make a character’s presence impactful.
If we were told everything in a voiceover as Chigurh made his first kill, he’d lose all of his mystery. Instead, we see him utilise a pressurised canister, an extremely high-tech silencer on a 12 gauge shotgun and witness his performance of surgery on himself. When the character’s actions speak for themselves so loudly, no backstory is needed.