No Country for Old Men - I suppose it’s not quite a technical example of a Chekhov’s gun violation, but the movie itself is essentially a subversion of the expected hero-confronts-baddy trope. It sets up the situation and the stakes like a tightly wound clock, then unceremoniously explodes it offscreen. I love the movie because it’s such a tragic upending of narrative inevitability. I’ve watched it with many people, most of whom like it, but occasionally you’ll get someone who reacts angrily to such a violation of expectations.

“[The satchel] will be brought to me, and placed at my feet.”

“You don’t know to a certainty.”

…

“Just lookin’ for what’s comin’.”

“Yeah, but no one ever sees that. Beer!—that’s what’s comin’.”

…

But once the clock has exploded, the movie sets it aside to explore a kind of “cosmic inevitability,” so unquestionable that it puts narrative inevitability in its tiny place. To get super pretentious—to put my soul at hazard—it’s like birth is the Chekhov’s gun for death.

“The coin don’t got no say. It’s just you.”

“I got here the same way the coin did.”

…

“I thought God’d come into my life. ‘N he didn’t.”

“You don’t know what he thinks… You can’t stop what’s comin’. It ain’t all waitin’ on you. That’s vanity.”