The novel A Clockwork Orange can be super-challenging to read because of its Nadsat lingo—the weird Russian-infused slang that Alex and his droogs speak in.

But the film A Clockwork Orange is straightforward by comparison. The plot travels in one direction, following Alex as he goes from thug on the streets to thug in jail to "reformed" thug to…whatever he is at the end.

However, the film is narrated by Alex, and he often portrays himself as a victim. He glamorizes his crimes and tries to make them fun, like when he sings "Singin' in the Rain" during a brutal rape scene. And the camera lingers on Alex's sad face when the writer whose wife he raped and killed turns the tables on him at the end. Alex makes the writer seems crazy instead, and makes himself look like the good guy.

In the movie, Alex rapes and he kills, but he twists the narrative until the viewer feels sympathy toward him, not his victims.