Sim City

 I'm not sure if this one counts, since it isn't available from Netflix as a DVD or pretty much anywhere streaming. But we recently bought An Inspector Calls (1954) from Kino Lorber, along with some other stuff, so here it is.

It starts with an interesting title sequence: A sumptuous table where the guests are eating the nuts course (as in "from soup to"). But while the table setting is quite genteel, we see the hands grabbing walnuts and fruit voraciously. Then we meet the guests:

• The father: A rich portly industrialist who expects to be recognized on the Honor's List
• His wife: A stuffy conventional old bird
• Their daughter: A pretty thing, although she's said to have a temper
• Her fiancé: A rich young man, eager for her father's approval
• The son: A somewhat inebriated young man who looks a little like Eric Idle. Since his character's name is Eric, we called him Eric the Half-a-Drunk

Then, an inspector calls - Alastair Sim. This is not Inspector Cockrill from Green for Danger or the lodger from Cottage to Let. He is somewhat more mysterious. He isn't announced at the door, he climbs through a window. He explains that a woman has died from drinking cleaning fluid, a horrible death, perhaps suicide. And one by one, he explains how each of them knew her under various aliases, and each of them wronged her.

Each one's story is illustrated by a flashback, and in each case the person feels guilty but insists that they can't be blamed for her death. I'll spoil the end a little, because I liked the twist - the fiancé notes that they all knew this woman by a different name - maybe they aren't even the same person! Maybe there is no dead woman at all! Maybe the inspector isn't really... But I won't spoil any more.

This movie was directed by Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger) from a play by J.B. Priestly (who I thought discovered oxygen, but that was Joseph). The play was a strong indictment of capitalist society, and premiered in Moscow. I was afraid in a few places that some leniency would be shown to the rich and powerful, but it was only a feint. Still solid today.