Review of Nightcrawler, directed by Dan Gilroy

Some movies just come to you when you’re really bored and in need of something to watch.

One day I was sitting on the couch, having finished up all the things I needed to do for my internship that day, and I decided that I should probably be doing something productive with my life, even if it meant simply watching a movie.

I opened Netflix, endlessly scrolled for about five minutes, and then saw the title Nightcrawler and did a metaphorical head scratch. When you see that title, you’re probably going to assume that this is a horror movie. Sure, some of the elements can be horrifying, but it’s not a horror movie.

Then I saw Jake Gyllenhaal was in it. I then realized I had only ever seen two movies with this guy in it, which were Okja and Zodiac, and then I shrugged, decided to watch it, and pressed play.

I didn’t even read the synopsis that day, which might’ve spared me some confusion, but I think this is a movie someone can go into blind and still have a good time. It might be a little weird for some people doing that, but I was completely chill with it.

Anyways, here’s my review!

One man’s rise to the top by filming violent accidents before anyone else can.

Our main character in this movie is Lou Bloom, who, at the beginning of the movie, is a petty thief. He’s trying to steal from a place where locomotives are stored when the security guard busts him.

When he attacks the guard in retaliation, he steals the watch, then sell the material he stole from the place at the scrap yard. He needs a job and asks for one there, at the scrap yard, but the guy in charge shakes his head and tells him he doesn’t hire thieves.

When he’s driving home from that, he spots a car crash.

He watches as a bunch of photojournalists, specifically freelance stringers, come and record footage of the accident, especially when it comes to the cops pulling a woman out of it.

This gives Lou an idea, especially after one of the stringers tells Lou they sell their footage to the news.

He steals a bike, pawns it for a camcorder and police radio scanner, and sets off to find some crashes. He loses his first few opportunities, but when he spots a fatal carjacking, he records everything.

He sells the footage to the local news station KWLA 6, and the director tells him they want more graphic footage in affluent areas. Lou finds a homeless man, Rick, and hires him as an assistant. He then decides to tamper with the crime scenes he’s in, even resorting to moving bodies and people to get a better shot.

This works really well for him, and business starts booming. Then, he goes on a date with the KWLA director, and while there, he threatens her. Lou also sabotages his main competition, Joe, and the guy’s van crashes as Lou records the aftermath.

The next big thing is a triple homicide in a wealthy neighborhood, which leads to ethical concerns from the station despite the director wanting to break the story.

After this, the cops are now suspicious of Lou. Rick and Lou go off to find the driver he recorded in the gunmen’s get away car, and Rick starts threatening Lou for more money once he realizes how big the pie is going to be.

The perpetrators go to a restaurant, a shootout occurs with the police, and the cops chase after the guys in car, giving Rick and Lou more footage.

Rick is shot in the process after Lou tricks him, and Lou leaves him to die after saying he was betrayed by Rick.

As the director and her team finds out new information about the homicides, she covers up their discoveries to sensationalize the footage they have. Despite the cops trying to get rid of it, they air it.

A detective grills Lou, and they know Lou is lying, but they can’t do anything about it. The movie ends with Lou hiring interns and telling these wide eyed young adults that he won’t ask them to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.

Overall Thoughts

What an interesting movie that dives into a slippery slope of ethics.

I found this angle to be incredibly fascinating, and showing how people are willing to profit all over each other, even if it mean perpetuating a system of suffering in the long run. We’re not supposed to like the main character of Nightcrawler, and he serves as a reminder as to what an anti hero in a movie could look like.

I don’t think this movie is high art in my book, but taste certainly is subjective at the end of the day. If you like it, cool. I think it was fine, I just didn’t care for it, although picking apart its themes proves to be another task in itself.

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