Spooky season has officially come to a close, and though you may want to cue up the never-ending stream of holiday movies that are now available, don’t rush the season. Savor the moody stylings of Noir November, or “Noirvember,” as it’s called by those who celebrate.
First, let’s start with a definition of “film noir,” as it can be a bit of a confusingly vague term. It’s not all private eyes with Venetian blinds and dames walking into their offices (though that is part of it). Films noir are typically highly stylized crime dramas suffused with a deeply cynical or otherwise dark worldview. The term was popularized by French critics after World War II to describe Hollywood films from the 1940s and ‘50s that fit this bill: black-and-white dramas made within the studio system that often explored the darker side of life with an undeniably bleak and nihilistic attitude. The directors making these films were often European expats who brought German Expressionist style to American filmmaking, and the movies used style and innuendo to get around the regulation of the rigid Hays Code.
These loose parameters continue to offer filmmakers a thematic playground to explore, so here’s a list of streaming suggestions for your Noirvember viewing, from the classic to the neo-noir.
Billy Wilder’s 1944 masterpiece “Double Indemnity” will always top the lists of best classic film noir. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck as the ultimate femme fatale who ensnares Fred MacMurray’s insurance agent into a plot to kill her husband. Rent it on all digital platforms for $3.99. The same goes for the 1946 Howard Hawks joint “The Big Sleep,” starring Bogey and Bacall in the classic Phillip Marlowe detective tale. Rent it everywhere for $2.99.
Robert Mitchum was one of classic noir’s finest stars, and one of his best films is the twisty 1947 Jacques Tourneur film “Out of the Past,” co-starring Kirk Douglas. That film is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel as a part of a newly unveiled Mitchum collection, which also includes the terrifying 1955 Charles Laughton film, the Southern fable as film noir “Night of the Hunter.” Those films are also available to rent on other digital platforms.
Film noir at its sexiest, grimiest, and most insouciant comes in the form of Samuel Fuller’s 1953 film “Pickup on South Street,” starring a magnetic Richard Widmark as New York’s nastiest pickpocket. Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter are also fantastic. Catch it on the Criterion Channel or Flix Fling.
Curtis Hanson’s 1997 crime drama set in the 1950s, “L.A. Confidential,” is a throwback neo-noir, stream it on Pluto or IMDb TV or rent it for $3.99 elsewhere. In the realm of the truly modern, Michael Mann, the king of the existential crime thriller, seemingly invented “neon noir” with his 1981 debut, “Thief” starring James Caan as a crackerjack safecracker. Watch that on the Criterion Channel. Mann expanded this noirish exploration with his 2004 film “Collateral,” starring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise in the taxi ride from hell around Los Angeles (on HBO Max or $2.99 rental), as well as in his largely misunderstood 2006 magnum opus “Miami Vice,” this time starring Foxx as undercover cop Tubbs opposite Colin Farrell’s Sonny Crockett (on Starz or $3.99 rental).
Nicolas Windin Refn’s 2011 film “Drive,” is undoubtedly indebted to the neon noir subgenre Mann spearheaded, with Ryan Gosling in the role of a taciturn driver for hire. Watch it free with ads on IMDb TV or rent it for $2.99.
Taylor Sheridan’s best film is easily his 2016 Western neo-noir “Hell or High Water” starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster as a pair of criminal Oklahoma brothers, which is streaming on Hulu or available for a $3.99 rental. Steve McQueen’s 2018 heist movie “Widows” is a perfect neo-noir, penned by “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn, starring Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo and Elizabeth Debicki. Watch it on FXNow or rent it for $3.99. Oscar-winning Korean master filmmaker Bong Joon Ho crafted a cop noir par excellence with his 2003 film “Memories of Murder,” a darkly funny and sprawling nihilistic epic about the first Korean serial killer. Stream it on Hulu or rent it for $3.99. Finally, Julia Hart gave the ‘70s noir a feminist spin with her 2020 crime drama "I'm Your Woman," starring Rachel Brosnahan, which takes a look at the female point of view on the classic gangster movie. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
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