Best Neo Noir

Forbrydelsen is a Danish neo-noir crime series exploring complex investigations and moral ambiguities. Created by Søren Sveistrup, the show gained international recognition for its atmospheric storytelling and intricate plots. It established key elements of the Nordic noir genre influencing subseque...

Robert Altman’s *The Long Goodbye* (1973) presents a revisionist take on Raymond Chandler’s classic detective story. Elliott Gould portrays Philip Marlowe navigating a morally ambiguous Los Angeles in the 1970s. The film's loose adaptation and unconventional narrative style, blending realism with st...

True Detective Season 1 is an HBO crime drama exploring a complex investigation into brutal murders in rural Louisiana. The series, notable for its atmospheric storytelling and intense performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, unfolds across multiple timelines revealing the intertwine...

Terriers is a television drama set in San Diego following an unconventional detective team. Led by Donal Logue’s unlicensed investigator Joe Carpenter and his former police dog partner Mack, the series blends crime investigation with dark humor and complex character relationships. Critically lauded...

Leon: The Professional presents a compelling story of a professional contract killer, Leon (Jean Reno), who unexpectedly takes in a troubled teenage girl, Mathilda (Natalie Portman). The film’s notable aspect is its sophisticated exploration of morality and violence within a stark neo-noir setting....

The Killing is a neo-noir television series centered on Seattle Detective Sarah Linden. The show explores complex, serialized murder cases demanding meticulous investigation and psychological insight. Its notable realism and dark atmosphere earned critical acclaim within the Nordic noir genre. It’s...

Tár is a 2022 psychological drama written and directed by Todd Field, with Cate Blanchett playing Lydia Tár, a fictional internationally celebrated conductor based in Berlin. The film follows her preparations to record Mahler's Fifth Symphony as allegations, damaged relationships, and evidence of pr...

The Bridge, originally titled Bron in Swedish and Broen in Danish, is a Scandinavian crime television series co-produced by Sweden's SVT and Denmark's DR. The story begins when a body is discovered on the Oresund Bridge at the border between the two countries, requiring detectives Saga Noren and Mar...

The Outsider is a 2020 American crime drama and supernatural horror miniseries broadcast on HBO, based on Stephen King's 2018 novel of the same name. Developed by Richard Price, the ten-episode series follows police detective Ralph Anderson, played by Ben Mendelsohn, as he investigates the gruesome...

The third season of HBO's anthology crime drama True Detective premiered in 2019 and was created principally by Nic Pizzolatto. Mahershala Ali stars as Arkansas detective Wayne Hays, who investigates the disappearance of two children and revisits the case at different stages of his life. The story u...

A 2022 period comedy-drama set in 1970s Los Angeles, originally on HBO Max, following a feminist journalist who co-founds a progressive erotic magazine aimed at women alongside a smut publisher.

Jane Campion's 2017 follow-up to Top of the Lake stars Elisabeth Moss as detective Robin Griffin investigating a sex-trafficking network in Sydney, co-produced by BBC and Sundance TV.

Werner Herzog's 2009 crime film stars Nicolas Cage as a corrupt, drug-addicted New Orleans detective; it is a loose companion piece to Abel Ferrara's 1992 Bad Lieutenant.

The fourth season of HBO's True Detective anthology, created by Issa López and premiering in 2024, stars Jodie Foster as an Alaska detective probing the disappearance of polar-night scientists.

Kristoffer Borgli's 2022 Norwegian dark comedy stars Kristine Kujath Thorp as a woman who deliberately induces serious illness in herself to steal attention from her successful partner.

Paul Schrader's 2021 film stars Oscar Isaac as a former U.S. military interrogator turned professional gambler who is haunted by his involvement in Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse.

Robert Connolly's 2020 Australian neo-noir stars Eric Bana as a federal agent who returns to his drought-ravaged hometown to investigate a murder, based on Jane Harper's novel.

AMC's 2024 limited series stars Clive Owen as a retired Sam Spade living in 1960s southern France who is pulled back into danger when a series of murders disrupts his quiet life.

David Mamet wrote and directed this 1991 Baltimore neo-noir starring Joe Mantegna as a homicide detective who questions his Jewish identity while investigating a murder.

The second season of HBO's True Detective, airing in 2015, is set in California and stars Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams investigating a murdered city transportation official.

Bob Rafelson's 1996 Florida-set neo-noir stars Jack Nicholson as a wine dealer who plots a jewel heist with his employee, only for greed to destroy both men.

James Foley's 2003 neo-noir thriller stars Edward Burns as a grifter who must run a high-stakes con against a dangerous crime boss played by Dustin Hoffman to settle an accidental debt.

George Armitage's 1990 neo-noir, based on Charles Willeford's novel, stars Alec Baldwin as a sociopathic criminal who steals a Miami detective's badge, with Fred Ward as his pursuer.

Volker Schlöndorff's 1998 Florida-set neo-noir stars Woody Harrelson as an ex-convict lured into a femme fatale's kidnapping scheme, based on James Hadley Chase's novel Just Another Sucker.