Retrospective Film Review

Nightcrawler (2014) — evil psychopaths and perverse humanity in a dark, twisted thriller

A desperate con man becomes a star crime journalist by blurring the lines between observer and participant in L.A.’s underworld.

First, he films crime. Then, he starts to stage the crime scene. Soon enough, he’s creating his own crime, scenes so shocking that when he gets it on camera, it’s certain to make headlines. When there’s such a massive audience for that form of entertainment, who can blame him?

Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is without a job. A petty thief with no future, he spends his nights stealing copper wire, manhole covers, and strips of chain-link fence. However, when he’s driving home one night, he watches as cameramen film a terrible car crash. Discovering how much money he can make by filming accidents, tragedies, and crime scenes, a few ideas light up in his depraved mind, some of which are more disturbing than others…

After 10 years, Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler remains a harrowing depiction of our voyeuristic…