Primal Fear is a American legal mystery crime thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit , based on the novel of the same name by William Diehl , written by Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman.
The film follows a Chicago -based defense attorney who believes that his client, an altar boy , is not guilty of murdering a Catholic bishop. The film was a box office success and received mixed-to-positive reviews, with Norton's performance earning critical praise. Fond of the spotlight, Vail is profiled for a magazine cover story and attempts to rekindle a casual relationship with his former colleague, prosecutor Janet Venable.
One day, beloved Archbishop Rushman is murdered in his bedroom and his body mutilated. Aaron Stampler, a year-old altar boy from Kentucky , is caught fleeing the scene covered in blood and charged with murder. Vail offers to defend him pro bono , and the meek, stuttering Aaron claims he is innocent but is prone to amnesia. Vail believes Aaron, while the state's attorney , John Shaughnessy, assigns Venable to prosecute the case and pursue the death penalty.
At Aaron's apartment, Vail's investigator Tommy Goodman is attacked by another altar boy, Alex, who flees. Neuropsychologist Dr. Molly Arrington interviews Aaron for hours about his difficult childhood, his memory lapses, and his missing girlfriend Linda. In court, a message carved into Rushman's chest is linked to a passage from The Scarlet Letter , which denounced the archbishop as "two-faced".
Stealing the tape from the archbishop's closet, Vail and his team discover footage of one of many encounters filmed by the archbishop, in which he coerces Aaron, Linda, and Alex to engage in sexual acts on threat of eviction from their group home.
