He’s been called a “force of nature” and a “monster for the ages”. He’s made his way into numerous lists of best film villains. It’s probably safe to say that No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh is one of the most singular and visceral portrayals of evil in cinema history. The successful creation of this iconic movie villain goes back to the original book, written by Cormac McCarthy.

When the Coen Brothers took on the role of turning it into a movie, they took McCarthy’s original intents with the character all the way. The end-result was a character who was less human and more of a symbol, a living embodiment of the movie’s major themes. Javier Bardem’s performance as the terrific villain was perfect to the fullest sense of the word; he showcased the full nature of the unfathomable character in every single scene throughout the movie.

But it was the gas station scene early in the movie, where Chigurh sets his murderous sights upon an innocent man, that sums up everything about the character. “What’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?” he asks. The scene never reveals what’s at stake, as the old man ultimately wins the toss — but we’re left in cold shock nevertheless. So, what makes this scene so effective at conjuring up such terror?

The Death Stare

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men
Miramax

In the movie, Anton Chigurh lives almost entirely on the back of Bardem’s performance. The viewer can never fully make up their minds about the character, even until the very end. And this nagging feeling only grows stronger with subsequent viewings of No Country For Old Men. Within a few minutes of appearing, Chigurh commits two murders in the most horrific ways. The character’s determination paints over every scene he is present in, but this determination never betrays a human element — there is no fear and no military vigilance behind it. It is simply a fierce, animalistic determination, and every action of his agrees fully with it.

The Coen Brothers had realized upfront that Anton Chigurh would need to belie any kind of traditional characterization. Chigurh was a man without roots, one whose origins couldn’t be placed no matter how hard one tries. It was a defining feature of the character, essential to portray him as more of a preternatural force than a normal human. In the book, McCarthy apparently accomplished this by avoiding almost all physical descriptions of the character. It was left up to the reader to fill the void with what Death would look like. In crafting the character for the screen, the focus was on a sense of discomforting ambiguity. There was the bizarre hairdo that gives no sense of personality to the character, Bardem’s strange accent that couldn’t be pinpointed, and even his clothing sense were just subtly off the mark while appearing quite trendy for the movie’s time period.

Bardem carries all of these in full measure in the gas station scene. The scene immediately follows Chigurh’s two murders at the beginning of the movie. The moment he hones in on the innocent gas station owner, the viewer knows only to expect an imminent third act of violence. Throughout the scene, his eyes betray the intense motions of a killing instinct: upon tagging the gas station owner as a potential risk; the predatory joy of toying with him; and the subtle windup for a potential act of violence after the toss is finally called. The deeply involving performance of Bardem barely conceals a sense of bloodlust all the way.

Related: There Will Be Blood vs. No Country For Old Men: Which Is Truly the Better Film?

A Nameless Threat

no-country-for-old-men-gene-jones
Scott Rudin Productions

A major credit to making this scene work goes to veteran actor Gene Jones, who played the small role of the gas station owner in this scene. His performance is equally involved in the scene’s tense interaction, and fully in tune with Bardem. Jones fully captures the distinct perception of a threat in his performance, highlighting Bardem’s own role in the scene. It becomes apparent in the very first moment that Jones looks up, immediately after Chigurh asks, “What business is it of yours where I’m from?”

The gas station owner immediately understands the nature of the threat standing on the other side of the counter, and seeks to defuse the conflict. Of course, his attempts are futile; Chigurh has already set his murderous gaze on him. Following this, Chigurh spends much of the interaction toying with the owner. By the time he flips the coin on the counter, the stakes are crystal clear. The threat of death is bubbling just beneath the surface, but never spoken aloud.

In his performance, Jones appears troubled at the knowledge, but can find no respite to the swiftly oncoming conclusion. This helpless knowledge reflected in his performance works equally well on the viewer to ramp up the intense fear and uncertainty of the scene. The conversational exchange between Bardem and Jones in this scene may very well be called a masterclass in crafting terror.

Related: 10 Best Coen Brothers Films, Ranked

Death Swooping in From Above

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men
Miramax

If you were to put yourself in the shoes of the gas station owner, the scariest element of the coin flip scene becomes quite apparent. He’s a man in his dusky years, having already raised a family, simply spending the days in peace. One day, a man you have never seen before walks in and poses a very real threat upon your life. Most importantly, this threat is bound to see a fruitful execution within minutes, at the literal toss of a coin. The sudden and senseless nature with which he comes face to face with death is brutally realistic. Scarier than the inhumane elements of Chigurh is the fact that he carries an inhumane motivation with complete mundanity. This makes him a dreadful fate that can happen to any of us in real life.

Humans are by nature incapable of approaching the concept of death in its fullness. Because of its profound quality, meditation upon death is an actual spiritual practice in some religious cultures. For a regular human, it takes something like a close call to death to bring its utter senseless to sharp focus. The gas station scene from No Country For Old Men does the same terrifying job.