The phrase “film noir” often calls to mind the image of a fedora-clad sleuth investigating a perplexing crime that may or may not involve the woman he loves in a shadow-swarmed city in the 1940s. However, in reality, a great film noir movie is anything that tells an intriguing story drenched in captivating mystery and high-wire suspense.
After sifting through the best streaming services to subscribe to, I found that not all of the genre’s finest entries are so “black and white” and concluded that a stylish mystery thriller could take place in any time period. See for yourself in our guide to some of the best film noir movies and how to watch them.
Blue Velvet (1986)
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Kyle McLachlan, Isabella Rossellini
What it’s about: After discovering a severed ear lying in a field, a college student looks into the matter himself, leading him to cross paths with an alluring lounge singer connected to a brutal gangster.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: While not one of his more definitively surreal efforts, Blue Velvet is considered one of the best David Lynch movies for its captivating mystery and entrancing aesthetic.
How to watch Blue Velvet
The Night Of The Hunter (1955)
Director: Charles Laughton
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters
What it’s about: A man posing as a preacher indoctrinates himself into the lives of a widow and her son and daughter, hoping to find loot belonging to her husband.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Based on Davis Grubb’s novel, The Night of the Hunter is a chilling classic that dared to put child protagonists in a hazardous situation in the time of the Hays Code.
How to watch The Night of the Hunter
- Stream The Night of the Hunter on MGM+
- Stream The Night of the Hunter on Pluto TV
- Buy The Night of the Hunter on Blu-ray on Amazon
Shutter Island (2010)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo
What it’s about: A U.S. Marshal and his partner investigate a disappearance at an infamous mental asylum where nothing is quite what it appears to be.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: There are other movies like Shutter Island, but its hopelessly bleak tone and DiCaprio’s unhinged performance make this adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel one of a kind.
How to watch Shutter Island
- Stream Shutter Island on Pluto TV
- Rent or buy Shutter Island on Amazon
- Buy Shutter Island on Blu-ray on Amazon
Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
Director: Rose Glass
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian
What it’s about: A romance between a gym manager and an aspiring bodybuilder is threatened by a deadly mistake.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: One of the best A24 movies in recent memory, Love Lies Bleeding is more than just a romantic bodybuilding drama and even more than a captivating neo-Noir because its astonishingly unique execution defies genre.
How to watch Love Lies Bleeding
- Stream Love Lies Bleeding on Max
- Rent or buy Love Lies Bleeding on Amazon
- Buy Love Lies Bleeding on Blu-ray on A24.com
Chinatown (1974)
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway
What it’s about: A Los Angeles private investigator who specializes in cases involving adultery is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Had Chinatown been released 30 or 40 years earlier, this clever, Oscar-winning mystery would have fit right in with other detective dramas of the time.
How to watch Chinatown
- Stream Chinatown on Paramount+ with Showtime add-on
- Rent or buy Chinatown on Amazon
- Buy Chinatown on Blu-ray on Amazon
White Heat (1949)
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo
What it’s about: After narrowly escaping prison, a psychopathic mama’s boy leads his old crew in a dangerous plot to steal from a chemical plant.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Cagney gives one of his most iconic and unforgettably vicious performances in the chilling crime thriller, White Heat.
How to watch White Heat
Looper (2012)
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis
What it’s about: A mafia hitman who specializes in taking out targets sent back from the future makes a costly mistake when he discovers his latest assignment is his future self.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Johnson works his genre-bending magic by delivering both a cool, exciting crime thriller and an instant time travel movie classic with Looper.
How to watch Looper
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Director: Tay Garnett
Starring: Lana Turner, John Garfield
What it’s about: A woman falls for a drifter, whom she then enlists to help murder her husband.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: One of the most beautifully executed examples of the classic “girl meets boy, girl convinces boy to kill her spouse” film noir set-up comes from The Postman Always Rings Twice – the original adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel.
How to watch The Postman Always Rings Twice
- Stream The Postman Always Rings Twice on Tubi
- Rent or buy The Postman Always Rings Twice on Amazon
- Buy The Postman Always Rings Twice on Blu-ray on Amazon
Devil In A Blue Dress (1995)
Director: Carl Franklin
Starring: Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore
What it’s about: A World War II veteran is hired to find a mayoral candidate’s mistress, only to uncover an even more troubling case in 1940s Los Angeles.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: One of the most underrated Black characters in detective fiction made his cinematic debut in Devil in a Blue Dress, based on Walter Mosley’s first novel to feature Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins.
How to watch Devil in a Blue Dress
Double Indemnity (1944)
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck
What it’s about: An insurance executive is seduced by a beautiful woman into killing her husband to receive his insurance benefits.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: The Oscar-nominated Double Indemnity is one of the most definitive noirs of its time for its breakneck suspense, compelling romance, and sharp dialogue from Wilder and co-writer Raymond Chandler’s script, which was adapted from James M. Cain’s novel.
How to watch Double Indemnity
The Big Sleep (1946)
Director: Howard Hawks
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall
What it’s about: A boozy, wise-cracking, hard-boiled private eye is hired by a wealthy family to investigate a case involving blackmail, murder, organized crime, and more.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Bogart would become the definitive image of author Raymond Chandler’s famous detective character, Phillip Marlowe, after leading The Big Sleep, which Joel and Ethan Coen have cited as an influence for The Big Lebowski, according to IndieWire.
How to watch The Big Sleep
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer
What it’s about: A thief accidentally nails a detective movie audition and, for research, is paired with a Hollywood P.I. with whom he becomes embroiled in a case involving his childhood crush.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: One of the more beloved comedy/mystery thriller hybrids in recent memory is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which is based on Brett Halliday’s novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them and was called Downey Jr’s best film by the actor himself.
How to watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand
What it’s about: A barber (Billy Bob Thornton) hatches a plan to benefit from his wife’s affair with her boss, which backfires horribly.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: One of the best Coen Brothers movies, The Man Who Wasn’t There, has blackmail, murder, a 1940s setting, and grayscale cinematography, but with a few bizarre surprises that break tradition.
How to watch The Man Who Wasn’t There
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Director: John Huston
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor
What it’s about: A San Francisco private detective comes across an assembly of people vying for a supposedly priceless artifact.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Before he played Phillip Marlowe, Bogart portrayed another iconic movie detective named Samuel Spade in this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.
How to watch The Maltese Falcon
- Stream The Maltese Falcon on Tubi
- Rent or buy The Maltese Falcon on Amazon
- Buy The Maltese Falcon on Blu-ray on Amazon
Rope (1948)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Jimmy Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger
What it’s about: Two men throw a dinner party just to prove they committed the perfect crime.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Before he became known for making some of the best horror movies of all time, Hitchcock proved his noir mastery with Rope – an adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s play that is shot to appear as if filmed in one continuous take.
How to watch Rope
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart, Doris Day
What it’s about: An American doctor and his wife take a trip to Paris that is ruined when they witness a murder and only worsened by the kidnapping of their adolescent son.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Featuring Day’s memorable performance of “Que Sera Sera,” The Man Who Knew Too Much is further proof that pairing Stewart with Hitchcock delivers chills.
How to watch The Man Who Knew Too Much
- Stream The Man Who Knew Too Much on Pluto TV
- Rent or buy The Man Who Knew Too Much on Amazon
- Buy The Man Who Knew Too Much on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Third Man (1949)
Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles
What it’s about: An American pulp fiction writer seeks the truth behind the suspicious death of his friend in Vienna when disparate witness accounts do not add up.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: The Third Man – a stirring murder mystery boasting a visual style that was deeply influential to the film noir genre.
How to watch The Third Man
- Stream The Third Man on Amazon Prime
- Stream The Third Man on Tubi
- Stream The Third Man on Crackle
- Buy The Third Man on Blu-ray on Amazon
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Charlton Heston
What it’s about: While investigating a bombing on the U.S./Mexican border, a DEA agent begins to suspect ill of an American police captain, which proves worrisome for him and his wife as more secrets come to light.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Welles also wrote Touch of Evil, which is considered a gripping, visually stunning adaptation of Whit Masterson’s novel, Badge of Evil.
How to watch Touch of Evil
Strangers On A Train (1951)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Farley Granger, Robert Walker
What it’s about: A married tennis star who would rather be with a U.S. senator’s daughter meets a man who offers to kill his spouse if the athlete kills his father.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: This deadly bargain is the premise of the seminal psychological thriller, Strangers on a Train – an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel written in part by Raymond Chandler.
How to watch Strangers on a Train
- Stream Strangers on a Train on Tubi
- Rent or buy Strangers on a Train on Amazon
- Buy Strangers on a Train on Blu-ray on Amazon
Brick (2005)
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner
What it’s about: A vengeful loner infiltrates a teen criminal underworld in order to solve his girlfriend’s death.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Johnson’s mesmerizing debut, Brick, takes all the same themes, archetypes, and language of an old-school detective tale, but reimagines them into one of the most unique 21st-century high school movies so far.
How to watch Brick
Memento (2000)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss
What it’s about: A former insurance investigator struggles to solve his wife’s death, despite having a condition that makes him unable to remember anything from a moment earlier.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Nolan crafts an incredibly fascinating and highly suspenseful mystery and one of the best movies of the 2000s with Memento by telling the story backward, putting us in the protagonist’s headspace.
How to watch Memento
- Stream Memento on Amazon Prime
- Stream Memento on Peacock
- Stream Memento on Tubi
- Buy Memento on Blu-ray on Amazon
Sin City (2005)
Director: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke
What it’s about: A disgraced former detective, a brutish ex-con, and other hardened characters meet their fates in a dingy, crime-ridden metropolis.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Miller and Rodriguez do not merely adapt Miller’s film noir-inspired graphic novel series, Sin City, but bring it to life on screen with a strikingly unique aesthetic that makes it one of the best non-superhero comic book movies ever made.
How to watch Sin City
North By Northwest (1959)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint
What it’s about: A case of mistaken identity leads a New York City advertising executive to go on the run from International spies.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: Even those who have never seen the breathless thrill ride that is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies, North By Northwest, can instantly recognize it from the iconic, heart-stopping scene in which Grant’s character just barely dodges a plane flying right at him.
How to watch North By Northwest
- Stream North By Northwest on Tubi
- Rent or buy North By Northwest on Amazon
- Buy North By Northwest on Blu-ray on Amazon
Drive (2011)
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan
What it’s about: A Hollywood stuntman by day and getaway driver by night puts himself in jeopardy trying to protect the woman of his dreams and her family.
Why it is one of the best film noir movies: The best Neo-noir thrillers challenge the conventions of the originals while honoring what made them so powerful to begin with and Refn absolutely nails that intent with one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies, Drive.
How to watch Drive
Movies do not get much darker than this – hence the name “film noir.” However, darkness never shined as brightly as in these amazing titles.
