8mm

8mm is a 1999 American crime thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. A German–American production, the film stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films. Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Anthony Heald appear in supporting roles. The film received mostly negative reviews, but was a box office success. Plot Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian. While clearing out her late husband's safe, she and Longdale found an 8mm movie which appears to depict a real murder of a girl, but Mrs. Christian wants to know for certain. Welles is instructed by Longdale and Mrs. Christian not to reproduce the film in any way, and to keep the investigation secret. After looking through missing persons files, Welles discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews and visits her mother, Janet, in North Carolina. She allows Welles to search her house, and he finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she says she went to Hollywood to become a film star. Mrs. Mathews wants to know what happened to her daughter.