Home › Best noir of the 2010s.
The 2010s were a decade of consolidation for noir rather than revolution. No single film changed the genre the way Pulp Fiction or Blood Simple had. But several films of genuine distinction appeared — films that will still be discussed in thirty years — and most of them received less attention than they deserved on release. These are the essential 2010s noirs.
The film of the decade. A poor Korean family infiltrates a wealthy family. Comedy, thriller, and horror simultaneously. The first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or and the Oscar for Best Picture. A film that will be watched and discussed for fifty years.
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Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, a sociopath who discovers freelance crime journalism — filming accidents and crime scenes and selling the footage to local news. Dan Gilroy made a film about the media's appetite for violence and a man perfectly adapted to feed it. One of the great performances of the decade.
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Two girls disappear. Two fathers respond differently. Jake Gyllenhaal as the detective investigating. Roger Deakins' cinematography. Denis Villeneuve established himself as one of the major filmmakers of his generation with this film.
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A former Chinese detective investigates a series of murders years after the original case destroyed his career. Diao Yinan won the Golden Bear at Berlin. One of the best crime films of the decade and one of the least seen in the West.
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Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt driver and part-time getaway driver. Nicolas Winding Refn made a neo-noir that prioritizes atmosphere over mechanics. Gosling barely speaks. The scorpion jacket. The elevator.
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Emily Blunt as an FBI agent recruited into a shadowy operation targeting a Mexican drug cartel. Roger Deakins again. Villeneuve made a film about how the war on drugs corrupts everyone who participates in it. Benicio del Toro in the role of his career.
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Jeremy Renner as a wildlife officer investigating a murder on a Wyoming Native American reservation. Taylor Sheridan made a film about the specific violence that comes from institutional abandonment — what happens in places the law has effectively left behind.
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Parasite (2019), Nightcrawler (2014), Prisoners (2013), and Black Coal Thin Ice (2014) are the essential 2010s crime films.
Drive is one of the most visually distinctive neo-noirs of the 2010s. It prioritizes atmosphere and style over conventional narrative, which divides audiences — viewers who want plot mechanics may find it slow.