10 Shocking Examples Of Gaslighting In Movies
2. Gaslight
The trope namer itself, Gaslight has been produced in many iterations since its initial release, first debuting as a play and then shortly thereafter as a British film and an American film. The most commonly cited incarnation is likely the American version, given its casting of Ingrid Bergman in the lead role with Joseph Cotten, Charles Boyer and a young Angela Lansbury rounding out the cast.
Gregory Anton (Boyer) and Paula (Bergman) are newlyweds who move into Paula’s late, wealthy aunt's home. At night, Paula begins notificing strange occurrences; she hears footsteps from above and believes the lights of the gas lamps spontaneously dim at night. Her husband convinces her she must be going crazy.
At first she protests, but then begins to believe him- perhaps she IS going crazy. He uses this mental uncertainty to control his wife, keep her in their home, and give him free reign to stalk the attic (which, when lit, requires gas and thus saps the remaining lamps in the house of some of their luminescence). Unbeknownst to Paula, but well-known to her husband, her aunt has a fortune stashed away somewhere. He controls Paula, manipulates her and attempts to imprison her in her own home in order to enrich himself.