Nightcrawler review

BEST NEW FEATURE

Released at the very end of October, Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler is a film that I waited far too long to catch, being among the best-received wide releases of the year. I am glad to have finally managed to watch it, as Nightcrawler is excellent, from its sleek cinematography to the brilliant performance at its centre.

Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a man in desperate need of work. He manages to force his way into the field of crime journalism, However, as Lou's career furthers, his methods show themselves to be outside of what's usually seen as acceptable. Gyllenhaal fills the character's form with ease, offering an icy performance that only serves to increase Louis' creepiness, offering an unsettling character fitting of the Halloween season. Louis is driven, but immoral. The law is merely a speed bump to him, and ethics aren't even in his consideration. The character has embodied the capitalist dream of going from rags to riches-but, where other movies would celebrate this, Nightcrawler makes it terrifying. Bloom is a sociopath who cares nothing for other people, even disliking them. He's not above threats and ultimatums, and those who he works with are entirely expendable-a means to an end. This is a terrifying flip on how the rags-to-riches narrative usually goes, and proves both highly effective and satire and beneficial to the thrills the movie seeks.

And the movie most certainly finds those thrills. When it's not focused on the crimes Louis is reporting, it's focused on his cold, deplorable methods. When it's not focused on that, it's looking at TV news. The most hard-hitting commentary within the film is pointed there, attacking the amount of time allocated to local crime, the focus put on suburban white people and the racism therein, and the sheer competitiveness of the stations. Indeed, Louis fits in perfectly with the depicted television climate. Louis' drive for success and lack of ethical boundaries allows him to feed the corruption in these stations, and in them he finds a home. 

When Nightcrawler isn't focused on any of the above, it still refuses to sit still, breezing over the less interesting parts of the story and filling its quieter moments with cuts and intriguing discussion between Louis and his employee Rick (Riz Ahmed). First-time director Dan Gilroy deserves praise for his stylistic direction, keeping the movie fast-paced even in its quiet moments and pushing sleek visuals. The cinematography lightly pans over Louis' car, zooms in on Louis' radio, holds on Louis' face-all purposeful shots, and all stylistically intriguing. Gilroy's a director who leaves a tangible fingerprint, and while Gyllenhaal dominates the proverbial stage, Gilroy owns it. This man needs to keep directing movies. 

Nightcrawler is superb. It's both conventionally thrilling (by way of style and great direction) and thought-provoking (by way of satire), and is a thriller that is as unsettling as a horror movie, much like Fincher's Gone Girl adaptation. At this point it's going to be difficult to find a way to watch it, but when it comes on home media in February, it's a must-see... if you haven't seen it already, as I know that I'm late to the punch with this one. In any case, definite best-of-year contender. 

10/10