When I was a kid I watched scary movies and was always relieved when good won over evil at the end. I noticed decades ago that movies were then beginning to show that evil got away and would strike again later - good didn’t win. Last week I listened in horror as a 16 year old boy told me gleefully about the movie “It” and that it was thrilling (in a good way) when the clown ripped off a child’s arm and started eating it. And American Horror Story - he told me about episodes and every episode featured countless unprovoked gory murders. Now there is a profound appetite for evil - according to the “law of diminishing returns”.
There used to be a policy in Hollywood, dictating that evil deeds would not go unpunished before the film was over.
That policy, seen mostly in films from silent movies up to “Clockwork Orange” has for the most part disappeared.
Today, it’s up to each director and screenwriter, how they decide to tell their story.