Releases like Guillermo del Toro's lush remake of Deep Water, serve as reminders that film noir is very much alive. The most enduring images and memories of noir often evoke the 1940s and 1950s, fedoras, satin dresses, and neverending cigarette smoke clouds. However, the style (rather than "genre," since it can't be that easily classified) has come a long way from there.

Letterboxd s have taken notice of this and the highest-scoring film noir films on the site are a wide selection of must-sees, both classic and modern, ranging from pure noir to variations of it.

UPDATE: 2022/09/25 20:37 EST BY SHAWN S. LEALOS

A New Neo-Noir movie hits theaters in 2022 with Amsterdam. The movie takes place in the 1930s where a doctor, a nurse, and an attorney become the main suspects in a murder case. The setup looks like classic film noir, with a mysterious murder, untrustworthy protagonists trying to prove their innocence, and lots of unsavory side characters who add to the list of suspects. These neo-noir movies share a lot in common with the film noirs from the past, and have allowed a new generation of fans to revel in the dark mysteries of the genre, originated by names like Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed.

Notorious (1946) - 4.0

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Alfred Hitchcock directed Notorious in 1946. Cary Grant took the lead in the movie as a U.S. government agent who seeks help from the daughter of a German war criminal. Ingrid Bergman plays the daughter, and together, they set out on an adventure where they fall in love, but nothing is ever as it seems.

The movie follows one of the biggest traits of film noir stories, a battle between love and duty, and explores how the two things often cloud the nature of both endeavors.

Diabolique (1955) - 4.1

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Diabolique is a movie from , released in 1955 by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The tale follows two friends in an abusive relationship with the same man. When the women realize they might be better off working together to rid themselves of the abusive man, things take a turn.

The women end up murdering him and then setting up the perfect alibi. However, nothing is that easy. This is one of the best film noir movies of its era, with one of the best twist endings ever. The movie is also one of the best non-English language horror movies of all time.

Touch of Evil (1958) - 4.1

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Orson Welles directed Touch of Evil, released in 1958. Nine years after Welles starred in one of noir cinema's best films in The Third Man, he put his directorial touches on this story of the murder of a couple in a car bombing that attracts the attention of a special prosecutor, played by Charlton Heston.

Welles proved he was still a master filmmaker 17 years after directing Citizen Kane, and he put some impressive flourishes into the style of this movie. The movie was not beloved when it came out in America, but it has stood the test of time and in 1998, a new version was released with Welles' original vision.

On the Waterfront (1954) - 4.1

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Marlon Brando has some of the best acting performances in cinema history, and his best arguably came in the 1954 crime noir movie, On the Waterfront. Brando starred as Terry Malloy, a former prizefighter who works for a corrupt union boss who opened the movie by killing a whistleblower.

The movie features a socially conscious narrative, with Terry struggling between doing the right thing and crossing a line he could never recover from. The movie had a good mix of good and evil battling with innocent people trapped between the two sides. With its direction, script, great cast, and crisp black and white photography, On the Waterfront represents what makes film noir such a beloved genre while going on to win eight Oscars.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) - 4.1

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Anatomy of a Murder might be Otto Preminger's best movie, and it is easily one of the best film noir movies in cinema history. This takes the noir into the courtroom where a former district attorney is called to represent a US Army Lieutenant arrested for murdering an innkeeper who he claims raped his wife.

The story brought in an interesting defense, as the man claims he has no memories of the murder, which means he could get off with an irresistible impulse defense after learning of the rape. Jimmy Stewart plays the attorney, and much of the movie plays out with the court case. Like the best film noir, the good guys are never pure, but at least with Stewart in the lead role, there is someone viewers can cheer for.

Memento (2000) - 4.1

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Nominated for a Best Screenplay Golden Globe and two Oscars, Memento redefined noir for the new millennium. The film's protagonist (played by Guy Pearce) has anterograde amnesia and must rely on photographs, notes, and tattoos all over his body to reconstruct his wife's murder and carry out his revenge.

Director Christopher Nolan finds in the very substance of the story the grounds for a sophisticated narrative entanglement. Two parallel timelines, one that moves backward (in color) and the other forward (in black and white), forces the audience to get extremely involved in the mystery since the first riddle to solve is the film's premise itself.

In A Lonely Place (1950) - 4.1

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This film offers a rare chance to see Humphrey Bogart step away from his usual heartless detective or tough-guy roles. Dixon Steele is a famous screenwriter with a bad temper that becomes suspect number one in a murder investigation. Although his neighbor speaks to clear his name, she slowly starts to question his innocence as she gets closer to him.

The best word to sum up In a Lonely Place is "suspense," and it truly is one of the most gripping movies of its time. With a level of tension that rises slowly, the film manages to keep audiences at the edge of their seats as the plot twists and turns towards darker places. What ultimately keeps the experience together is Humphrey Bogart's terrific, hair-raising performance as Steele.

Double Indemnity (1944) - 4.2

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First-class names helmed this indisputable classic. Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder pen a screenplay based on a novel by James M. Cain, starring Fred MacMurray, who never falls into cliché land thanks to his comedic background, Barbara Stanwyck in the best role of her career, and Edward G. Robinson, who is flawless as usual. To top it off, an outstanding score by Miklos Rozsa.

The film came out in a crucial year for film noir, along with other classics such as Laura or The Woman in the Window. Its plot would be subject to multiple rehashes (a femme fatale convinces an unaware insurance salesman to kill her husband), and its long flashback structure is delightful. Its visuals, drawing from German Expressionism and the crude crime news of the time, helped shape a style.

The Departed (2006) - 4.2

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Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson, the film focuses on two parallel stories of undercover cops: on one hand, rookie trooper Billy (DiCaprio), who infiltrates the heart of the Irish Mob in Boston, under dangerous boss Frank Costello (Nicholson); and on the other, Colin (Damon), a young spy inside the Massachusetts State Police, where he has been planted by Costello himself.

The film's vibrant pace Silence, Martin Scorsese imported this 21st-century epic from Hong Kong, featuring fast editing techniques and world-class performances that ranks among Scorcese's best gangster titles.

Vertigo (1958) - 4.2

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James Stewart plays Scottie Fergusson, a San Francisco detective that suffers from a fear of heights. Gavin Elster (played by Tom Helmore), an old friend from school, hires him for an apparently simple case: to watch over his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), a beautiful woman who is obsessed with her past.

Despite less than favorable reviews and box office numbers upon release, this Hitchcock thriller still holds up today, due to its beauty, its mystery, and its obsessive attention to detail. The camera manages to capture the magic in James Stewart's gestures, Kim Novak's lips, and Barbara Bel Geddes' tears. The result? A nail-biting philosophical exercise on love and self-deception. Everything is carefully calculated to convey an atmosphere of mystery and symbolism.