Neo-noirs have had an interesting journey over the decades, continuing the traditions of the classic noirs, sometimes adding unique aesthetics or contemporary elements, or acting as full homages. They began in earnest in the ’60s, with films that could take advantage of the dying production code with more explicit violence or sexuality, like Point Blank. The ’70s had several quintessential neo-noirs that ranged from contemporary subversions of the form, like The Long Goodbye or Taxi Driver, to full period pieces, like Chinatown. The ’80s brought neon aesthetics into the mix through traditional narratives, like Blood Simple, and others, like science fiction.
The biggest boom neo-noir ever had would come in the ’90s, when both new indie and established studio filmmakers would venture into it. Lists of ’90s neo-noirs can fluctuate in length depending on how generous, or stingy, we are with the criteria. It is nothing if not a messy genre, and while there are some films that have been definitively categorized as such, there are many more that inspire debate. If there’s enough in a film to be considered heavily influenced by noir, then it’s good enough to qualify here. It’s hard to limit the greatest of the ’90s neo-noirs to a list of only ten movies, especially when certain filmmakers contributed more than one classic, but these ten are hard to deny.
10
‘Bound’ (1996)
Of the many directors who debuted in the ’90s with a neo-noir, the one that stood out due to its sexuality and LGBTQ themes was The Wachowskis‘ Bound. With two female protagonists who engage in a sexual relationship, the film not only featured elements of sexuality that classic noirs could only ambiguously suggest, but showcased them in a far more nuanced context than the way queer-coding was often used as shorthand for depravity. The explicitness of the sex scenes almost earned it a ridiculous NC-17 rating before the Wachowskis made a few cuts, showing just how close-minded the ratings board still was.
Violet (Jennifer Tilly) is dating Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), who launders money for the mob, and Corky (Gina Gershon) is an ex-convict who works in the apartment next door. Corky and Violet begin a relationship and soon plot to steal some mob money and let Caesar take the fall. The best-laid plan, of course, takes some nasty twists and turns as is expected in any proper neo-noir, and there’s plenty of style in the film. The cinematography by Bill Pope, who would later shoot The Matrix films, gives it real production value on its tight budget with fluid camera moves and stark lighting. Thanks to the later successes of the directors, in addition to the added context their gender transitions gave to the film’s already growing status in the LGBTQ film community, Bound has earned a proper following as a unique neo-noir.
9
‘Lost Highway’ (1997)
Long considered one of David Lynch‘s lesser efforts, Lost Highway has undergone a reappraisal by both fans and critics. Its surreal style made it a hard sell even for some die-hard Lynch fans, similar to films of the director’s that were equally divisive, like Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. After the success of Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway began to attract more attention, with many praising its mix of noir and horror elements. Even if its narrative doesn’t follow a straight line and operates better in terms of tone and vibe, Lost Highway features some of the most incredible imagery in Lynch’s filmography, rewarding repeat viewings.
The film centers on a man named Fred (Bill Pullman) who begins to receive cryptic, vaguely threatening VHS tapes before experiencing bizarre events and later transforming into a different protagonist named Pete (Balthazar Getty). There’s a lot to try and unpack in Lynch’s film, which he has left up to interpretation, the same as most of his work. Everyone is bound to come up with unique answers to the film’s plot and meaning. Even if some people don’t respond to Lost Highway with any real interest, it’s still a distinct neo-noir horror film worth experiencing at least once.
8
‘Hard Eight’ (1996)
Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Hard Eight isn’t nearly as complex as some of his later films but is just as engaging. It’s a small-stakes crime film about small-time criminals and gamblers that makes the most of its Nevada locations and a rare leading role for Philip Baker Hall. The film was an expansion of Anderson’s short film Cigarettes & Coffee, which also featured Hall as the character Sydney. Anderson’s film is a tribute to the kinds of characters that often appeared on the fringes of cinematic crime stories, and it gives the spotlight to an actor who often occupied supporting roles.
Sydney (Hall) is a gambler who takes a downtrodden man named John (John C. Reilly) under his wing and forms a fatherly bond with him. After John falls in love with cocktail waitress Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), they find themselves in trouble and Sydney’s attempts to help them leave him exposed to the dangerous Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson). Hard Eight may appear minor compared to Anderson’s most acclaimed films, but it’s an impressive and assured debut and addition to the dusty pantheon of desert noirs.
7
‘Fallen Angels’ (1995)
As a companion piece to Chungking Express, Wong Kar-wai‘s Fallen Angels trades the bright, energetic pop visuals of that film for a darker, moodier aesthetic befitting a neo-noir. The film, originally intended to be the third story featured in Chungking Express, was expanded into its own loose narrative while still featuring the same themes of loneliness, love and alienation, explored through two intersecting narratives of a lovesick hitman and a mute ex-convict. With a distinct, distorted style thanks to cinematographer Christopher Doyle‘s use of extreme wide-angle lenses, the film is one of the most visually distinct of all ’90s neo-noirs, with an allure all its own.
Wong (Leon Lai) is a hitman looking to leave his life of killing behind. His Partner (Michele Reis) is growing increasingly infatuated with him. Blondie (Karen Mok) is the woman Wong forms a strange attachment with. Ho (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is an ex-con who runs a strange hustle, breaking into businesses at night and intimidating customers. Charlie (Charlie Yeung) is the lovesick woman he falls for. These characters don’t so much collide with one another as they drift in and out of each other’s lives. The dream, or better yet, nightmare-like quality of Fallen Angels and its indulgent visuals have made it a more difficult film for fans to enjoy, but it’s just as emotionally resonant in a very different, gloomier fashion.
6
‘The Last Seduction’ (1994)
John Dahl was essential to the ’90s neo-noir boom. After his directorial debut Kill Me Again in 1989, he followed it up with the neo-Western neo-noir crime film Red Rock West, and then with his greatest film, The Last Seduction. It features an iconic turn by Linda Fiorentino, who was rudely denied an Oscar nomination due to an inane ineligibility rule regarding the film’s premiere on HBO before its theatrical release. Despite the snub, Fiorentino is still considered among the most quintessential femme fatales of any noir, and the film itself is an erotic neo-thriller worthy of her talents.
Bridget (Fiorentino) is a calculating telemarketing manager living in New York City with an abusive physician husband who’s just made six figures selling pharmaceutical cocaine to some drug dealers. Bridget steals the money and ends up in a small town upstate where she begins a relationship with Mike (Peter Berg) as a means to meet her own conniving end. The character is a villainess that the movie makes no apologies for. The Last Seduction was developed to be a lurid thriller meant for late-night viewing, and while it has all the requisite elements, it’s also elevated by the efforts of its cast and crew.
5
‘Devil in a Blue Dress’ (1995)
Carl Franklin directed two of the best and most underrated neo-noirs of the ’90s. The first was the seedy, small-town thriller One False Move, which examined systemic racism through a modern context and juxtaposition of urban and rural attitudes. His second explored those themes even deeper with the ’40s-set Los Angeles noir Devil in a Blue Dress. Based on the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley, which introduced the hard-boiled detective character Easy Rawlins, it’s a crying shame that there were never any sequels adapted from the later novels. An equal shame is that Franklin has been absent from directing any feature films for over two decades as well.
Looking for work, Rawlins (Denzel Washington) takes a job to track down a missing white woman named Daphne (Jennifer Beals). What he finds is a tangled plot of political corruption, blackmail and racial prejudice. A major theme of both of Franklin’s ’90s neo-noirs is race and reckoning with its history in America and within the subgenre itself. While often left underexplored in the predominantly white classic noirs, race is an undercurrent in many ’90s neo-noirs, and more pronounced in others like Deep Cover. Franklin offers the most nuance to the theme in his two films, and Devil in a Blue Dress is his neo-noir masterpiece.
4
‘The Grifters’ (1990)
Of all the ’90s neo-noirs, The Grifters may be the one that feels the closest in true spirit to the classic form of the genre. While its color visuals are bathed in the sunlight, its time period is a nebulous mix of classic and contemporary styles, and the script, adapted by crime writer Donald E. Westlake from Jim Thompson‘s pulp novel, is just as acidic as you’d expect it to be. Elmer Bernstein‘s fantastic score also evokes the classics. Produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Stephen Frears, The Grifters is the best adaptation of a Thompson novel, capturing the author’s American-brand cynicism perfectly.
The film follows a trio of con artists: the seasoned professional Lilly (Anjelica Huston), her hustler son Roy (John Cusack), and his grifting girlfriend Myra (Annette Bening). The conflicts between the three drive the film from capers to killings, ending in a bloody climax befitting a noir. The three actors are all perfect in their roles, with both Bening and Huston receiving well-deserved Oscar nominations. The Grifters was one of the earliest neo-noirs of the ’90s, and it set the proper tone for others to follow.
3
‘L.A. Confidential’ (1997)
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Based on a more contemporary crime novel by James Ellroy, the third in his famous L.A. Quartet, L.A. Confidential offers a streamlined, cut-down version of its source material’s plot, but is nonetheless a perfect piece of pulpy entertainment. Curtis Hanson, who had previously directed genre thrillers like The River Wild and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, leveled up to blockbuster status with a script by fellow B-movie stalwart Brian Helgeland, and a tremendous cast of rising stars and veteran performers. A cop thriller where the cops are just as dirty, or often dirtier, than the criminals they arrest, L.A. Confidential was the quintessential studio neo-noir of the ’90s.
In the City of Angels, after a violent scandal and an even more violent massacre in a diner, detectives Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), Bud White (Russell Crowe) and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) find themselves drawn into an ever-expanding web of drugs, sex, corruption and murder. It’s a classic noir crime story, but infused with the rampant bigotry and misogyny of its 1950s setting. The novel was even more cutting, but even with some sanded edges, Hanson’s film version can still manage to draw blood. The actors are all exemplary, with Kim Basinger making a major comeback with her Oscar-winning performance that gives a modern interpretation of the classic femme fatale.
2
‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994)
Pulp Fiction was a cultural phenomenon that inspired dozens of imitators that all fell under the label of Quentin Tarantino-esque. The director’s distinct style, bearing the plot hallmarks of classic noir but also inspired by ’70s exploitation and a host of other film movements, is a cinematic universe unto itself, where the characters are all as film-literate as the screenwriter behind their dialogue, and where genre elements collide in often non-linear fashion, moving beyond something of pure pastiche or homage. It’s so distinct that Pulp Fiction isn’t always considered a true neo-noir, but its influences, and its influence, are too pronounced to exclude it.
Following disparate stock characters filtered through the manic cinephile minds of Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary, the film is a kaleidoscope of crime stories. Hitman Vincent (John Travolta) takes his gangster boss’ wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), out to dinner, while his boss Marsellus (Ving Rhames) gets more than he bargained for trying to take down boxer Butch (Bruce Willis). Also, Vincent and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) have to deal with a headless dead body. The actors are all perfectly cast, and they recite the Oscar-winning screenplay’s quotable dialogue with plenty of wicked wit. Pulp Fiction is Tarantino’s defining film, and a hell of a neo-noir.
1
‘Fargo’ (1996)
The Coen Brothers‘ career is littered with neo-noirs, starting with their very first film, Blood Simple. The trend continued through the nineties, with masterpieces like the Dashiell Hammett homage Miller’s Crossing and the Raymond Chandler parody The Big Lebowski. The neo-noir without a clear literary progenitor, and which could be considered the most essential film of the directors’ filmography, is the chilly Midwest comic crime thriller Fargo. Just as Tarantino carved out his distinct slice of noir, the Coens also cut their cold-hearted subcategory where Midwestern nice meets hard-bitten criminals.
Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) has a hair-brained scheme to pay two criminals to kidnap his wife and steal the ransom money from his father-in-law. Of course, things get complicated, and the bodies that pile up get the attention of police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand). Fargo is a neo-noir that delivers just as many awkward laughs as it does cold chills, vacillating between perfect moments of character-driven humor and shocking bits of bloody violence. From its snowy setting to its regional dialects, Fargo stands out among the best ’90s neo-noirs.
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