LISTS… Going Back in Time to Three Neo-Noirs from the 2020s

#2020s #AllPosts

 

Going back in time with three very different neo-noir movies made in 2021…

 

Time travel back with a British neo-noir to the sixties, or to meet the woman you love and to a chilling noir remake in these three entertaining noirs.

 

Reminiscence (2021)

Last Night in Soho (2021)

 

After a wee – and mostly unannounced as unexpected – writing break, I am back on the blog with some fabulous interviews, reviews of all sorts, a couple of upcoming blogathons, a few remembrance posts and a new(ish) list series…

So firstly, for the first of this new(ish) post series previously published in the Dark Pages publication, I am reviewing a threesome of thrilling neo-noir movies from each decade. These all coincidentally were released in  2021.

These three films were chosen from the list of neo-noirs on Wikipedia HERE, in the 2020 and beyond category. Each of these films reflects different themes within the neo-noir genres and includes some starry casts with captivating plots that often blur with other genres such as horror, thriller and romance.

 

Reminiscence (2021)…

Reminiscence – Official Trailer, Warner Bros Pictures

Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), lives in a future Miami, now ravaged by wars and where the seas have risen leading to water-filled streets. Only the rich live on dry land in this water-filled dystopia. Bannister works with Watts (Thandiwe Newton) in assisting people in return to their past and happy memories and is a part-time private eye working alongside the police.

In both his business and work with the police, He helps people return to memories using an injected relaxant and his guided relaxation as they wear a headpiece lying in a water tank. A small voltage is then applied, and their memories are then recreated on a stage as the individual recalls these, as observed by Bannister and Watts. These memories are recorded on a plastic disk and then stored for future use by these clients in a secure vault.

Bannister helps a war veteran friend and a young woman to relive their memories. Then just before closing for the day, an attractive woman, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) visits him and asks for his help as she has mislaid her keys. It seems for our protagonist it’s an instant attraction, as through this reminiscence therapy he watched Mae go through her day and he discovers she is a nightclub singer (as well as finding her keys).

Nick becomes obsessed with Mae, and he tracks her down to this club to return the earrings that she left behind. They start dating and fall in love, but after she disappears for no apparent reason, he becomes desolate. But then hopeful as he finds her earring outside his work building. He returns to the tank regularly, to return to the past to discover the truth. After assisting in an investigation with the police, he discovers her once again, as he hears her voice when carrying out this therapy a wanted felon… and that she’s not the only one with secrets.

The voiceover from Hugh Jackman explains how you may be haunted by the memories of the past, and you see him finding a man’s lost playing card of a Queen on the street. This foreshadows his neo-noir story. This plot is a glossy neo-noir with Jackman’s PI investigating a shadowy Miami,  complete with a trench coat. Rebecca Ferguson is the sultry, femme fatale that he falls for.

For her, he is prepared to explore the murkier side of this dystopian world in the hope of reuniting with her. Together Bannister and Mae have a romantic chemistry to die for, as this intricate plot guides you through a complicated conspiracy where he pieces together these clues using this therapy, with some twists and turns, and everyone has a part to play.

 

Last Night in Soho (2021)…

Last Night in Soho – Official Teaser Trailer [HD] – In Theaters October, Focus Features

Let’s travel back in time to an Edgar Wright directed British neo-noir film. Last Night in Soho. It tells of a young fashion student, Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) who is obsessed with all things from the 1960s and then moves to London to start her studies. Ellie’s mother (Aimee Cassettari) committed suicide when Ellie was 7 years old, and Ellie often sees visions of her mother in a mirror.

After moving to London, Ellie is unhappy in the student residence and she moves into a bedsit, rented from an elderly woman, Miss Collins (Diana Rigg). Ellie has vivid dreams of returning to the 1960s and on the first night, she dreams she is a confident blonde, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy),  a young woman who aspires to become a singer. Ellie believes she is Sandie, as she meets Jack (Matt Smith), the manager of a club, and auditions for him. He becomes Sandie’s lover and manager. In the 2020s, Ellie is inspired by Sandy and emulates her appearance after she finds a love bite after Jack kissed Sandie there.

These dreams continue Sandie’s story and Ellie becomes strongly empathetic to the life of the dream’s protagonist, Sandie. An elderly man (Terence Stamp) at the pub Ellie works in tells her about a lady Alex, whom he once knew with similar looks… Things take a darker turn, as Ellie now witnesses Sandie’s sadder story. Ellie dreams that Jack finds Sandie a job, in a seedy nightclub after a successful audition and then the dreams of both women are shattered.

Edgar Wright lures us back to the 1960s in this visual treat for anyone nostalgic for this time with wonderfully recreated fashions, haircuts, dancing styles and film posters. The wonderfully accompanying 1960s soundtrack heard in these scenes adds to this immersion on this nostalgic trip. These visions then throw a whammy as it reminds you that all that glitters is not gold. These once welcoming vivid dreams become deadly nightmares. Then London is seen in a more rounded way, as those visions of the past return, and this past life affects Ellie’s mental health in the present…

 

Nightmare Alley (2021)…

NIGHTMARE ALLEY | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures, Searchlight Pictures

A past noir is given a new neo-noir revamp by the director, Guillermo del Toro in this visual treat. Set in 1939, the film tells of an enigmatic grifter Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), who is seen to have a mysterious past. He catches a bus after disposing of an unknown body and then gets a job in a carnival. He learns all the related scams of those who work there. He is in turn empathetic to the carnival geek, a feral man who acts like a beast and is captivated by the use of cold reading and prompts used by the carnival psychics.

Stan falls in love with Molly (Rooney Mara) who has an act there. Peter (David Strathairn), the elderly psychic in a psychic double act, teaches him cold reading skills. But he warns Stan about the dangers of this art before then passes away after Stan gives him a bottle of alcohol. Pete’s daughter Zeena (Toni Collette), gives Stan Pete’s book containing handwritten notes about how to cold read.

After Stan and Molly leave the carnival – as a couple – and the film goes forward 2 years where seems their fortunes changed for the better, with them working in clubs. Stan is the psychic (yet still a con man) and acts on a coded prompt from Molly. However one night, after he cold reads a rich, woman, Dr Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) who hopes to expose him as a fraud and asks him the questions, he is still able to by using little cues in her behaviours. This psychiatrist is determined to learn the truth about him as a person, and he proposes a dastardly plan. She agrees on her own terms… and it seems they have a mutual attraction.

This neo-noir film echoes much of the noir plot of the original film and novel, then takes its own spin. Scenes where less is told, are expanded in later flashbacks. The film follows our protagonist’s story in an engaging way. As our leading protagonist, we learn more about Stan as this film progresses, and his character is seen in a more rounded way. The cinematography, artistically designed sets, creative props and sumptuous costumes all wonderfully recreate this time and place.

There are more than a few credible hints of what may come, strewn throughout this movie which compel you to rewatch this gripping movie. It is a worthy tribute to the source material. Del Toro adds his own unique motifs into the carnival scenes, with an all-seeing baby embryo in a jar and his dark visions of a man turned into a geek, where this man has been made into a monster by the carnival owner (Willem Dafoe). Interestingly, Wikipedia adds that a black and white version of this film was released last year with the subtitle, Vision in Darkness and Light. 

I urge you then to watch all three of these movies, with those neon lights and shadows, telling tales of now, then and in the future with their homages to noir in their plots, characters and props. All 3 of these captivating and stunning neo-stories really could work just as well without colour, but will always retain those colourful characters on-screen.