20 TERRIFYING Scenes In Non Horror Movies
16. Arthur Edens' Murder - Michael Clayton
2007's Oscar-winning legal thriller Michael Clayton is an absolute banger, yet one that doesn't get nearly enough credit for that absolutely horrific murder sequence.
When the nefarious agricultural conglomerate U-North discovers that lawyer Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) has proof that they were aware their weed killer caused hundreds of deaths, the company's general counsel Karen Crowder (an Oscar-winning Tilda Swinton) orders two operatives to kill him.
But they don't shoot him dead, run him over, or throw him out a window like you might expect - it's far more nauseatingly banal, even clinical, than that.
The operatives enter Arthur's home, incapacitate him, drag him to the bathroom, and then inject him with a drug overdose, in turn making his death appear to be a suicide.
The entire scene unfolds without music or showy camerawork - we're instead shown Arthur's death in a disturbingly matter-of-fact manner, as two professionals efficiently murder a man and then leave as quickly as they arrived.
It's a scene that feels so real, like we're watching something we shouldn't be, almost like we're an unwitting accomplice.