Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

The film unfolds through the gritty urban landscape of Chicago, using locations like diners, liquor stores, and the ominous Lower Wacker Drive to frame a brutal murder spree. Henry and Otis traverse the city, echoing a sense of menace that spills from urban core to suburban outskirts. The journey culminates with a planned move toward San Bernardino, California, hinting at an escape from the city.

🔪 Violence

The summary centers on Henry's indiscriminate killings of men, women, and even a child, presenting violence as an ongoing, normalized behavior. It shows a chilling routine of murder, bravado, and procedural detachment that follows the killers from city to city. The brutality is depicted as a compulsive pattern rather than an isolated incident.

⚖️ Moral Relativism

Henry attempts to argue that killing is morally fluid, persuading Otis to adopt a personal philosophy of murder. The narrative explores how relativism erodes conventional ethics when violence is reframed as a means of control or thrill. This theme exposes the danger of seeing harm as permissible under a flexible moral code.

💔 Family Trauma

The backstory reveals abuse that shapes Henry's violent impulses and Becky’s trauma, adding a context of damaged family dynamics to the violence. Becky’s revelation about her father’s rape and Henry’s own childhood abuse illustrate how personal history feeds the killers’ worldview. The film ties private wounds to public brutality, suggesting that trauma informs behavior.

🤝 Complicity & Influence

Otis becomes drawn into Henry's worldview, moving from reluctant participant to an active accomplice under Henry's manipulation. The dynamic showcases how charisma and authority can mold another's actions, blurring lines between curiosity, fear, and criminal behavior. The relationship underscores the theme that collaboration in crime compounds the moral cost.