10 Greatest Neo-Noir Films Of The 21st Century

10. Nightcrawler

Noir pictures tend to dwell in the darker side of life, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. Nightcrawler is a creepshow that presents its sickening subject with a great deal of fun and bravado, insisting that the audience enjoys the ride - and leaving them feeling even grubbier as a result.

Jake Gyllenhaal is at his career-best as Lou Bloom, a bottom feeding huckster looking to make a quick buck. He stumbles into the world of lurid photojournalism, learning that there’s money to be made capturing the results of accidents for local news broadcasters. The grizzlier the scene, the more access he can get, the bigger the payout.

Like so many great noirs the narrative is a descent into darkness, but Nightcrawler is a particularly amoral proposition. Without giving the game away, Lou isn’t going to learn the error of his ways or even suffer the consequences of his actions; he’s just going to sink deeper into the murk.

Gyllenhaal plays the character with a manic smile on his face, as though his relentless hustle epitomises the American dream, even as he makes the inevitable transition from observer to instigator.