Former shipping-heir Dickie Greenleaf has moved to Italy to live with his fiancée – something his parents are not very happy about. When they mistake Tom Ripley for an old friend of Dickie’s, they offer to pay Tom to go to Italy and convince their son to come home. Since his life is going nowhere and he is wanted by the law, Tom takes them up on the offer and flees America for Europe – so begins a classic tale.

When he arrives in Italy, Tom is struck by his idyllic surroundings and even successfully meets and befriends Dickie, as well as his fiancée, Marge. Quickly he decides this is the life for him and settles into his new surroundings with pleasure. Before long, however, things take a turn for the worse; Dickie’s parents realise Tom isn’t going to bring their son back and cease his payments. What’s more, Dickie and Marge declare that they are going on holiday and don’t want him to be there when they get back! Realising his new life is under threat, Tom takes drastic measure; taking Dickie out on boatride, he clubs him to death, sinks his body and steals his identity!

Fleeing again, this time to Rome, Tom Ripley (or Dickie Greenleaf, as he is now known) starts living a new life on dead-Dickie’s stipend cheques. Dickie’s friends, however, have noticed his disappearance and, as the banks start growing suspicious of Tom’s forged signatures, things get tricky for the Talented Mr. Ripley in one of my the most famous and classic books of all time.