In 1955, Patricia Highsmith published The Talented Mr. Ripley, a chilling psychological thriller that introduced the iconic character brought to new life in Netflix's new miniseries Ripley. Portrayed by Fleabag and All of Us Strangers star Andrew Scott in the new adaptation, Tom Ripley is a small-time confidence man living in New York who's tasked with traveling to Italy to convince trust-fund loafer Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to return to the States. Upon meeting Dickie, Tom becomes obsessed with the man (wanting to both be him and be with him) as well as his easy, wealthy lifestyle. When he realizes that Dickie is beginning to tire of him, Tom's sociopathic and murderous tendencies emerge and it becomes clear the scammer will stop at nothing to retain a material freedom.
The original Tom Ripley is the first (or maybe just the most famous) literary example of a social climber turned serial killer. Countless other writers have taken inspiration from Highsmith's novels—Ripley went on to appear in four book sequels by the author—including some direct and indirect adaptations that have become cult classics. Below, we compare Ripley to the source novel and other famed adaptations, while breaking down just why generations of readers have remained fascinated with Tom Ripley.
