Line #6 Literature/NightFilm


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17322083_sy540_png.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:The novel really blurs the line between reality and fiction]]
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4	2013 novel by Marisha Pessl.
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6	When Ashley Cordova, 24 year old daughter of legendary cult horror film director Stanislas Cordova, turns up the victim of an apparent suicide, investigative journalist Scott [=McGrath=] is on the case. Years ago, [=McGrath's=] investigation into Cordova cost him his marriage and career. Motivated by a desire to solve the mystery of the seemingly cursed Cordova family, and bolstered by revenge, [=McGrath=] conducts a private investigation of the reclusive director that will lead him into some very dark places.
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8	!!Tropes Found in this Work Include:
9	* AbandonedWarehouse: Ashley's body is found in one.
10	* ArcSymbol: The flying bird, in Cordova's films and in the book.
11	* BigApplesauce: New York City is a huge CrapsackWorld full of Satanists, obsessive film fans, and all the best culture in the world.
12	* BigScrewedUpFamily: When factoring in non-genetic additions to the household such as Inez Gallo and Hugo Villarde, the Cordovas could be the archetypal example.
13	* ChekhovsGun:
14	* CityNoir: New York
15	* CreepyChild: Ashley is described as this by several people who met her when she was a girl. She also plays one in one of her father's films, about a young girl who brutally murders her entire family.
16	* CreepyDoll: Devold's daughter's doll. The doll was thought to be lost but then it's found in an abandoned kiddie pool, severely disfigured.
17	* TheDarkArts: [[spoiler: Cordova is revealed to have been practicing black magic]].
18	* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: When Ashley Cordova crosses the devil's bridge as a child, her soul belongs to the devil. Cordova tries to reverse this by trading the souls of other children.]]
19	* DeconstructorFleet: By the end, the novel has a ''lot'' to say about stereotypes of sexuality and portrayals of mental illness in the thriller and horror genres.
20	* DefectiveDetective: [=McGrath's=] obsession with Cordova not only cost him his marriage, but resulted in him being publicly disgraced by the media.
21	* DepravedBisexual: [[spoiler:Cordova, who had multiple wives, had a long affair with Villarde, and was also an escort to both men and women in his past.]] His ex-wife, Marlowe, says that it was a mark of Cordova's genius that he couldn't be "satisfied" by one gender.
22	* DepravedHomosexual: Villarde, [[spoiler:who was having an affair with Cordova]] on top of being a SinisterMinister.
23	* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: If what happened in Cordova's mansion wasn't a MushroomSamba and [=McGrath=] isn't undergoing SanitySlippage, that is]]
24	* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:For all the teases about Ashley's terrifying nature, one of the major twists of the novel is that she was actually ''protecting'' via magic, rather than seeking to harm, the children she and then, later, [=McGrath=] encountered.]]
25	* HarmfulToMinors: Ashley [[spoiler: was five when she witnessed her father and some of the local townspeople participating in an occult ritual]].
26	* LoonyFan: More than a few of these are permanently camped out at The Peak and have made it their personal playground.
27	* LovecraftCountry: Much of the novel takes place in and around New York.
28	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Ashley is a posthumous version. She's astonishingly attractive, brilliant at everything, a piano prodigy, but she still loved Hopper.
29	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler: If you believe one version of the story, the Cordova family's troubles were due to Ashley being under a "devil's curse". If you believe another version, Ashley had cancer and everything that happened could be logically explained]].
30	* MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial: Although both Cordova and Scott are men, their obsession is Ashley, while her brother, Theo, despite being apparently very haunted and playing an important role, is barely significant.
31	* MostWritersAreWriters: In two ways: [=McGrath=] is a journalist and Cordova is a writer/director (and the book features pictures, extracts, and even a few sound clips).
32	* NeverSuicide: [=McGrath=] doesn't believe Ashley's death was a simple suicide, and several people who knew her say she had no reason to kill herself.
33	* OldDarkHouse: Cordova's vast estate, known as The Peak.
34	* RichReclusesRealm: Stanislas Cordova lives in a mansion in upstate New York called The Peak. So far, it's normal enough...until [=McGrath=] gets there and realizes that Cordova and his acolytes built all the sets for his films and [[spoiler: possibly performed deadly child-killing rituals in the enormous grounds]], turning the entire place into a sort of terrifying interactive exhibit in which he was essentially worshipped as a king.
35	* RichSiblingPoorSibling: In a reference to ''Film/WhateverHappenedToBabyJane'', Marlowe and Olivia have undergone these switches. Marlowe was a highly respected actress while Olivia was a failure. However, after Marlowe got in a car accident, Olivia seduced her fiancé and married into his billions. Marlowe collapsed into alcoholism and plastic surgery addiction, has all failed marriages, and is ultimately broke and being secretly bankrolled by Olivia.
36	* SatanicPanic: Stanislas Cordova is targeted by a mob who believe he is worshipping the Devil and murdering children in an attempt to spare his daughter's soul. It's left ambiguous whether he actually was.
37	* ScrapbookStory: Downplayed, but there are several extracts, reviews, and news stories about Cordova, his family, and his films.
38	* SecretUndergroundPassage: [[spoiler: Cordova's estate is full of them]].
39	* SexyPriest: Hugo Villarde, said to be very attractive and [[spoiler: one of Cordova's lovers]].
40	* SissyVillain: Hugo Villarde too, crossing over with DepravedHomosexual.
41	* SpookyPhotographs: There are several in the book.
42	* SpookySeance: During a dinner party hosted by Cordova one character describes attending, young Ashley suggests they play a ghost summoning game. The results are quite creepy.
43	* StrawHypocrite: By the end of the story, Scott [=McGrath=], supposedly a normal guy investigating a bunch of freaks (or so he sees it), realizes just how much he's projecting his own perverse thoughts on to the Cordova family. Maybe.
44	* TakeThat: To the novels of Thomas Harris, and the many other works in the thriller genre that portray benign forms of mental illness and/or non-heteronormative sexuality as indicators for criminal behavior.
45	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Ashley.
46	* WhamShot: A rare example of this clearly happening in a novel. Scott is being chased through New York when he sees his stalker and realises that the man is [[spoiler:missing three fingers, meaning that he is Theo Cordova.]]
47	* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Ashley is said to be highly intelligent and seems far wiser than her young age.
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50	!! Tropes in Cordova's films
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52	* ArcSymbol: The flying black bird. Also, apparently, Cordova's TrademarkFavoriteFood, steak tartare, Murad cigarettes, Phil Lumen lightbulbs, and a dark "one-eyed Pontiac" (a Pontiac with one working headlight).
53	* AuthorAppeal: Beckman tells Scott that the StockCharacter of the "Evil King" is Cordova's CreatorsFavorite. [[spoiler:Fittingly, he casts himself in this role in Scott's movie.]]
54	* CreatorThumbprint: Cordova apparently has a series of [[ArcSymbol symbols]], motifs, and [[CharacterCatchphrase catchphrases]] that distinguish his work.
55	* TheGhost: Kay Glass in ''A Small Evil'', who invites Alexandria to her house before going missing (and presumably being murdered).
56	* ProductionPosse: Cordova is known to work with multiple people over and over, including his RealLifeRelative (in the universe of the book), his daughter Ashley (who is in ''To Breathe with Kings'') and his son Theo (who is in ''Wait For Me Here'' and [[spoiler:the in-universe film Cordova is making about Scott.]]) There's also his stuntman, Boris, who is in all of Cordova's films [[spoiler:who poses as a GayCruising man outside Scott's apartment.]]
57	* SerialKiller: The topic of many of his films, including ''Thumbscrew'' and ''Wait For Me Here''.

Context Literature / NightFilm