The $30 million toe in the water

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel 'Inherent Vice' (2014) marked a significant investment in the neo-noir genre, with a budget of $30 million.

The film's expansive narrative, blending dark comedy with eccentric sequences, resulted in a consistently engaging experience that honored the tradition while pushing boundaries .

Set in 1970s Los Angeles amid the era's drug culture, the story follows pot-smoking private investigator Larry 'Doc' Sportello, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.

Why 4,000 unsold units became the prize

The neo-noir film genre experienced a rich and diverse decade from 2010 to 2020, following a strong run in the 2000s.

This modern evolution of 1940s film noir delivered a wide array of movies that honored the tradition while pushing boundaries, with many outstanding films departing from classic noir conventions.

This collection highlights essential neo-noirs from the 2010s, featuring works with deeply troubled protagonists such as 'You Were Never Really Here,' and others that embrace the form's caustic humor, like 'The Nice Guys.'

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

Writer-director Drew Goddard's 'Bad Times at the El Royale' (2018) set in 1969, delivers a captivating mystery, a unique straddle-state hotel location,retro aesthetics, and a memorable performance from Chris Hemsworth.

The film's mood and tone perfectly capture the era's bold, ironic charm with vivid detail, unfolding at the El Royale hotel, which sits on the California-Nevada border, naturally generating intrigue.

Multiple perspectives converge: Dwight Broadbeck (Jon Hamm), an undercover FBI agent posing as a salesman; Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a priest battling senility while seeking hidden money; Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), a singer facing professional struggles; and Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson), who has escaped a cult led by the deranged Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth).

Who is the unnamed buyer?

Films employing a story-witthin-a-story structure can be hit-or-miss , but Tom Ford's 'Nocturnal Animals' (2016) executes it masterfully.

Based on Austin Wright's novel 'Tony and Susan,' the film weaves a fictional narrative that mirrors and comments on the protagonsit's reality, creating a pulsating,dangerous atmosphere that feels both literary and visceral.

The plot centers on Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), a disillusioned art gallery owner, who becomes immersed in her ex-husband Edward Sheffield's (Jake Gyllenhaal) manuscript, which visually plays out with Adams' lookalike Isla Fisher as the character based on Susan .

Tehran's two-track response

More a crime-revenge thriller than a traditional noir , 'In the Fade' (2017) channels classic themes of vengeance consuming a protagonist .

Directed and co-written by Fatih Akin, the film serves as a searing indictment of a corrupt legal system and the irreversible damage it inflicts on victims' lives, with a focus on the complexities of the human experience.