Quinci LeGardye is a Contributing Culture Editor who covers TV, movies, Korean entertainment, books, and pop culture. When she isn’t writing or checking Twitter, she’s probably watching the latest K-drama or giving a concert performance in her car.
star Andrew Scott in the new adaptation, Tom Ripley is a small-time confidence man living in New York who's tasked with traveling to Italy to convince trust-fund loafer Dickie Greenleaf to return to the States. Upon meeting Dickie, Tom becomes obsessed with the man as well as his easy, wealthy lifestyle.
The original Tom Ripley is the first literary example of a social climber turned serial killer. Countless other writers have taken inspiration from Highsmith's novels—Ripley went on to appear in four book sequels by the author—including some direct and indirect adaptations that have become cult classics. Below, we compareto the source novel and other famed adaptations, while breaking down just why generations of readers have remained fascinated with Tom Ripley.
It also helps that the film doesn't hold back with showing how much of a selfish cad Dickie Greenleaf can be. 1999 Dickie is uncaring and mean; even during the happier days in Mongibello there's a subplot where Dickie's affair with a local Italian woman has tragic consequences. There's already a natural tendency to root for Tom as an underdog on a class level; add in Dickie's casual cruelty and Tom looks even more relatable by comparison.
With Tom written as more sympathetic in his motivations and Dickie being the undeniable worst, 1999'salters the original story to follow more of a traditional narrative. It updates the original work for the then-present day, when Hollywood was making great strides in LGBTQ+ representation, but it would be a great mistake to think that film is a scene-by-scene remake of the original novel.
The average reader, moviegoer, or Netflix subscriber likely wont live their lives like Tom Ripley, but they'll all fall into fascination with him or one of his offshoots at some point, because he embodies escapism. Tom can be anything and convince people of anything, and that kind of chameleonic power is entertaining as hell, whether it's used for good or evil.
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