Hurry, it’s leaving Netflix soon! Is this one of Clint Eastwood’s best movies and you still haven’t seen it?

There are some great movies in Clint Eastwood’s filmography. And between them is a mystical river. Released on our screens in 2003, this psychological and crime thriller tells the story of three childhood friends – Jimmy Marcum, Dave Boyle and Sean Devine – who grew up together on the streets of Boston.

Nothing seemed to change the course of their friendship until the day Dave was kidnapped by a stranger in front of his friends. Their youthful partnership could not withstand such an event, and their paths inevitably parted.

Years later, a new tragedy suddenly brings the three men together: Kathy, Jim’s daughter, is found dead at the bottom of a ditch. The bereaved father dreams of only one thing: revenge. Sean, who is in charge of the investigation, thinks he knows the culprit: Dave Boyle…

In search of authenticity

Eastwood brings Dennis Lehane’s excellent novel to the screen and turns it into a thriller with a sticky atmosphere. To be as faithful to the book as possible, the filmmaker chose to shoot directly in Boston and near the Mystic River, much to the dismay of the studio, who wanted to move it to Canada to cut costs.

With this adaptation, Eastwood wanted to touch on the themes of grief, guilt, losing a loved one, and losing a part of oneself. To bring more depth and weight to the story, Eastwood himself was responsible for the musical composition, a discovery here.

The opening sequence also sets the tone and serves as a starting point for character building: How has this trauma affected the trajectory of these three young friends? Eastwood likes to portray characters in his movies who are wounded by life, and in the case of Mystic River, we can say that none of them really come out unscathed…

Praised by the press and the audience

With a 4.2 out of 5 audience rating on AlloCiné and a 4.7 out of 5 press rating, Mystic River is one of the best films from the director and his cast of Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins and Sean Penn. The latter two also walked away with Golden Globes and Oscars for Best Actor (Penny) and Best Supporting Actor (Robin).

As for the film, it earned $156 million worldwide for an investment of $25 million. A great success, which was also confirmed in France, where more than 1 million viewers gathered in cinemas to discover this masterpiece. No wonder Mystic River went on to win the César for Best Foreign Film…

If you still haven’t seen this great classic, know that it’s still available until July 31st on Netflix!