Oscar winner Javier Bardem makes hushed, calm Chigurh the anti-Norman Bates, terrifying because we know nothing about him (the same was true of Bardem’s “Skyfall” villain). Seeming to have materialized out of nowhere in both Cormac McCarthy’s novel and Joel and Ethan Coen’s movie, he appears human, but his interactions with others make us wonder how anyone could turn out like this. As a result, Chigurh underscores the scariest thing about evil: We don’t know where it comes from.
Chigurh (Javier Bardem) discusses the nature of existence with Carson (Woody Harrelson).
