10 Best Movies Where The Protagonist Learns Nothing

4. Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler is a wonderful little movie about an on-the-skids sociopath, Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose relentless ambition as a freelance videographer allows him to steamroll his competition.

When the film opens, Lou is a sleazebag with little regard for other people, and when the film ends, he's exactly the same person, just with a lot more money and a team of interns to do his bidding. He learned some business acumen, sure, but on a personal and spiritual level, Lou's icky behaviour has just been firmly reinforced.

There's no relief for the audience, and even though Lou's colleague Rick (Riz Ahmed) initially appears to be the "conscience" of the movie, he ultimately ends up corrupted and shot dead for his troubles.

The lack of redemption or punishment of Bloom is obviously deliberate on the part of writer-director Dan Gilroy, and while it might leave some viewers a little too cold, it results in nothing if not a riveting character study of what can be achieved when pathological ambition and sociopathy intersect.