10 Opening Movie Scenes That Do More Than You Realise

Edgar Wright's films have tremendous rewatch value because he's a master of foreshadowing, of hinting at the narrative's eventual direction in cheeky plain sight.

And there's perhaps no better example of this in his filmography than in the first five minutes of Hot Fuzz, when protagonist Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) objects to being sent to the sleepy town of Sandford for basically being too good at his job.

Angel says to the Met Police's Chief Inspector Kenneth (Bill Nighy), "You can't just make people disappear," to which Kenneth replies, "Yes I can. I'm the Chief Inspector."

It might sound like a harmless enough retort in the moment, but it's actually straight-up pointing out who the villain is.

While it's not Inspector Kenneth himself, given that he doesn't live in Sandford and all, it is the movie's other Inspector, Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent), who has been causing the murders around Sandford in order to preserve the town's chances of winning the Village of the Year competition.

Kenneth told Angel and the audience everything they needed to know to uncover the antagonist right at the start of the story.