We continue our Noirvember offerings with ten essential 21st century neo-noirs…
It’s time once more to take a deep dive into the brutal and fatalistic world of noir as Noirvember rolls on. From film noir of the 30s and 40s, to great revisionist periods like the 1970s, there has always been a noir-infused selection of films since the dawn of cinema.
The 21st century has also had plenty of essential neo-noir films to pick from, often calling back to some of those golden eras of the sub-genre for inspiration. Here are ten essential 21st-century noir films…
Blade Runner 2049
Ryan Gosling has had his fair share of icy plunges into the cold dark world of noir, from Drive, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Only God Forgives, to The Nice Guys. He also starred in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. Like Ridley Scott’s sci-fi opus, it was a neo-retro future drawing heavily from film noir, and Gosling, complete with his trench coat and withdrawn demeanour, is every inch a neo-noir antihero.
A film arguably doomed to fail financially, Blade Runner 2049 did manage to do the unthinkable for such a long-awaited (and not exactly hotly anticipated) reboot; it was incredible in its own right. Gosling is great, and it may well be one of the most visually stunning films of this century.
Nightcrawler
Noir was never afraid to make a protagonist disturbed and unsympathetic. Not all cinema needs to make its protagonist relatable or likeable. Jake Gyllenhaal shines as Lou, a fiercely ambitious crime scene photographer devoid of morals and empathy and unafraid to cross the line in order to get ahead of everyone else.
Gyllenhaal’s chilling performance was criminally overlooked at the Oscars, and this film captures the ethereal L.A. night with such dark dreaminess. It’s an underrated gem, with great turns from Rene Russo and Riz Ahmed.
No Country For Old Men
The Coen brothers love dipping their toes into neo-noir stories, and they took on the unenviable task of adapting a Cormac McCarthy novel, known for their complexity. Thankfully, though, the Coens proved up to the task, delivering No Country for Old Men with such dazzling assurance that it could be argued as the best American film of this century.
A ‘Nam veteran, Moss (Josh Brolin) happens upon a drug bust gone bad and a case of loot and triggers a classic noir, cat and mouse tale as he’s tracked by an Assassin who is calculated evil incarnate (Javier Bardem). As with Blade Runner 2049, this one is bolstered by absolutely stunning cinematography from one of the all-time masters, Roger Deakins.
SEE ALSO: 10 Great Neo-Western Movies You Need To See
Layer Cake
Welcome to the layer cake, son. A stellar ensemble cast of British actors is dotted around leading man, Daniel Craig, in the film that went a long way to convincing MGM that he was the natural successor to Pierce Brosnan as 007.
Matthew Vaughn weaves an elaborate web of characters and plot twists that have some hallmarks of his buddy Guy Ritchie, yet doesn’t feel too derivative of Lock, Stock and Snatch. It’s not played quite as broadly or colourful, bordering on caricature as with Ritchie’s gangster films (for the most part anyway), though it’s still bold and grandiose. Craig does a great job of anchoring it, and Michael Gambon provides a commanding and calm menace.
Collateral
Michael Mann shifted to a pre-occupation with digital filmmaking, beginning with Collateral. Seeking ways to speed up the process from his previously meticulous and detail-oriented (and symmetry-oriented) approach to shooting on film.
Collateral feels rough and ready, occasionally on the fly (though probably not much less meticulous, knowing Mann). Simple, immediate, propulsive and thrilling as a simple taxi driver (Jamie Foxx) unwittingly picks up a hitman (Tom Cruise) and gets dragged along for a series of hits. Cruise hasn’t been better since, often preoccupied with playing somewhat two-dimensional, goody two-shoe heroes. Here, he’s a compelling and icy villain.
Killer Joe
The late maestro of movies, William Friedkin, had a demi-comeback of sorts, with Killer Joe, which also happened to be a key film in the (Matthew) McConaughssaince.
Dark, twisted and no less assured than his glory years thrillers, Friedkin showed he still had bite with an underpinning of dark humour and McConaughey revels as the titular killer. Comfortably under two hours, it also feels lithe and builds beautifully.
Memento
Quite the way to announce yourself to audiences, but Christopher Nolan instantly shot himself into the top tier of modern directors with his complex, reverse chronology neo-noir thriller with Guy Pearce as the grieving husband hunting his late wife’s killer, with one small hitch: he can’t create short-term memory. He always reverts to the moment he last remembers: his wife’s death.
Nolan has often let the intricacies of his detailed plots run away from the audience, but Memento, despite threatening it, never becomes bogged down in “wait…what?” Everything falls into place beautifully, even when he switches between a film playing in reverse to flashbacks playing in chronological order. All the while, there are no convenient characters there to exposition dump, and our narrator (Pearce) is also unreliable (which makes him all the more intriguing).
Mulholland Drive
If Nolan has the propensity to confuse audiences on occasion, then he’s merely a rank amateur compared to the maestro of the head scratcher, David Lynch. Here’s the real skill too: he can baffle audiences whilst simultaneously managing to create a movie world so enthralling that you’re compelled to revisit (several times).
Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than with Mulholland Drive, a whodunnit (and occasionally whatdidtheydo) with a wannabe actress and amnesia-suffering starlet who go sleuthing to find out Rita’s (Laura Harring) identity and the truth behind her accident.
The Secret in their Eyes
This gripping Argentine thriller won the Oscar for best international film and, in doing so, spawned a terrible Hollywood remake. The original, however, is a masterclass in slow-burning storytelling which builds up to a dark and shocking final act.
Juan José Campanella’s thriller sees a former homicide detective, now retired legal counsellor, return to his old town to look into a cold case he’d previously left unsolved. Old wounds and relationships are reopened, and Benjamin (Ricardo Darin) ends up down a rabbit hole even darker than he imagined.
A Bittersweet Life
A hearty dose of revenge is often on the cards in noir, and Kim Jee-woon knew just how to deliver a bone-crunching and violent portion of the dish best served cold.
Chock full of intense and visceral action, Lee Byung-hun is a brutal force of nature after the normally meticulous and ruthlessly efficient fixer breaks his own rules (and disobeys his boss) and faces the consequences. Coming in the wake of Oldboy, A Bittersweet Life was one of a good run of well-travelled Korean films that shocked and allured Western audiences in equal measure. After a wild, Eastern-Western action opus (The Good, the Bad, the Weird), Jee-woon (and Byung-hun) got nasty and vengeful once again with I Saw the Devil (also starring Byung-hun), which is also essential cinema.
SEE ALSO: Great 90s Neo-Noir Movies You Might Have Missed
What’s your favourite 21st Century Noir film? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
