“A film without a single trace of pity or love”

Double Indemnity is a movie filled to the brim with drama, betrayal, and flashbacks. However, it is almost completely lacking in the area of love. Both of the main characters strayed from the star-crossed lovers that audiences were used to seeing decades before. Instead, they manipulated each for their own personal gain. The femme fatale lead was cunningly deceptive and used her looks to get a seemingly innocent insurance salesman to kill her wealthy husband. The salesman quickly hopped on board the murder train (pardon the irony) and wanted to get his own share of the money by exploiting the very insurance company he worked for in order to attain the largest payout possible. Both were using each other under the façade of love but weren’t aware of the other’s plan until the very end.

Phyllis Dietrichson at first appeared to be a trophy wife to a wealthy older man. As the story progressed, it was revealed and strongly implied that she killed the previous wife while she was her attending nurse. This gold-digger was always in it for the money, and once the supplies ran out, she moved on. As Walter eloquently put it, “she was a tramp from a long line of tramps.”  Taking advantage of her sexual appeal, she managed to convince an interested salesman into doing the dirty work. To maintain his motivation, she acted as if she had madly fallen for him, and she constantly threw out phrases like, “I love you, Walter”, “Now we can finally be together”. In the end, Phyllis never loved Walter, nor even pitied him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have exploited him so harshly. Walter Neff could be seen as an unfortunate man who got involved with the wrong person at the wrong time. However, under closer inspection, it becomes apparent that Walter was infatuated with the large sum of money he could end up with if he carried out Phyllis‘s request. He also wanted the girl but not nearly as much as the money. He knew he could get away with the crime since he worked for the firm that was being exploited. Being hidden in plain sight, he would know every obstacle to avoid and every fine detail to make the most of. 

The only character that truly felt compassion was Lola. She loved Nino and for once Walter could tell. The movie shows her loving nature when she and Walter spend time with each other and the latter notes, “it was only with her that I could relax and let go a little." This confession of being at ease coincides with the caretaker archetype, proving Lola is capable of love.