Ace in the Hole

Appeals to viewers drawn to corrosive social satire, morally compromised protagonists, and bleak examinations of journalism’s hunger for spectacle.

Tone

satirical, bleak, tense

Payoff

catharsis, reflection

Pacing

steady

Intensity

intense

Structure

linear

Themes

media exploitation, ambition, public spectacle, moral corruption, human suffering

Setting

mid-twentieth-century, isolated desert town and underground rescue site