Witness (1985)

Closed societies make for compelling cinema, and the two insular fraternities that overlap in Witness (1985) combine for one of the most suspenseful and illuminating movie experiences of the 1980s. Investigating an officer-involved homicide, a big-city cop must take the word of a big-eyed Amish kid against the sworn statement of one of his own. The veracity of the somber boy from rural Pennsylvania becomes apparent when the detective is wounded in a shootout against members of his law-enforcement clan and must take refuge among the cloistered Amish community. In both willfully separate factions, respect is mandatory, acceptance is earned, and loyalty is to the death.