Death has comes to a young successful woman who has climbed the social ladder of success in a rapid manner.  This young woman was Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) who someone shot in the face with a shotgun.  The murder brings the audience into a dark and sinister atmosphere, much in the spirit of true film noir, as all the main characters are also suspects to the grisly murder of this once stunning woman.  Even the police cannot evade the audience's suspicions as the investigation unfolds.  However, only one thing is certain, someone pulled the trigger of the shotgun that departed the late Laura Hunt from this world.

Briefly after Mr. Lydecker's initial statement to the audience the investigation begins and he is interviewed again by the police, as Mr. Lydecker volunteers to follow Detective Lieutenant Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews).  The film quickly moves to introduce the audience to other suspects, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price) and Mrs. Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson).  Mr. Carpenter was suppose to marry Laura the following week while Mrs. Treadwell used be Mr. Carpenter's personal benefactor and much likely more, which is revealed through the information that is provided.  Despite the introduction of these suspects the audience cannot eliminate the possibility of someone else being the murderer.

In the true spirit of film noir Laura continues to haunt the audience, as the murder turns into a study of the upper-class.  These characters display the bad side of humanity, where greed, jealousy, vanity and more begin to create strong undercurrents that pull the story in different directions.  This diverging effect keeps the audience focused on the story, as it helps generate more suspense through the viewer's oblivious notion of who the murderer could be.  All characters have skeletons in their closet, which furthers the confusion of the identity of the killer.  To top the whole thing off the director Otto Preminger throws an unexpected curveball that will make the audience more intrigued by the story.

Laura brings the audience an excellent film noir, which keeps the audience guessing until the identity of the killer is obvious.  A great deal of the film's success could be added to the cast's wonderful performance that enhances the apprehensive atmosphere, but it also rests within the mise-en-scene, music, and direction of the film.  The atmosphere is crucial for the film, and Preminger generates this cinematic milieu from the beginning, and it does not let go until the audience has left the darkness of cinematic experience, which leaves the audience with some thoughts to ponder.

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