The pulsing hum of the night that shrouds cities after dark is intoxicating. Throughout history, artists, writers, and filmmakers have been inspired and influenced by the debauchery that takes place in the shadows once the city begins to sleep.
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With only the sound of buzzing neon lights and silent silhouettes, the energy becomes exhilarating and paranoid. It is through this energy that directors have birthed some of the most electrifying films in modern cinema, and the perfect pieces of art to watch on those lonely nights when the clock strikes 2 A.M.
The Safdie Brothers created one of the most alluring tales of the seedy underbelly of New York City. Known for their anxiety-riddled movies and chaotic style of filming, Josh Safdie has said, "Growing up in New York City, your sense of space is thrown out of whack. It manifests living in the moment, which is a major influence on our work. the 'warped moment.'" They certainly achieve a warped moment of NYC chaos in this palpitating heist thrill.
Good Time follows Connie and his brother, Nick, as their plans to rob a bank go terribly wrong. The movie is best watched after midnight in the complete dark with only the electric lights of the film to burn your vision. There are scenes filmed in nothing but fluorescent, black-light settings that create a unique energy and a riveting feast for your eyes.
There is no movie better watched after dark than Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels. Very few movies come close to this visually striking splendor of Hong Kong, as the broken men and women of Fallen Angels desperately dash through the city throughout all hours of the night.
In this neo-noir crime thriller, an assassin, his boss, an entrepreneur, and two beautiful women cross paths in Hong Kong. At the heart of the film is four manipulators, whose professional and love lives weave together without their knowledge. Watching these characters come to life in the bright lights of Hong Kong's dark corners is an exhilarating ride.
The unusual candor of Rebels of the Neon God and its youth-in-revolt story are what make it such a captivating film. With superb camera work by Tsai Ming-liang, the camera often lingers where it's not supposed to, sometimes even forgetting to follow the action. It's a movie that will leave you buzzing with electricity and the realization that Ming-liang is one of the sharpest observers of human behavior in film.
The director's debut guides you into his volatile and energetic neon-lit metropolis. The movie follows a group of teens living in Taipei - two thieves, a prostitute, and an outsider who has recently quit college to seek revenge. Rebels of the Neon God is full of vibrant magic as it shows the group struggling with life, looking for love, and facing the lack of justice in the world.
Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver is the quintessential movie about nihilistic mediocrity and how far people are willing to go to escape the mundanity of life. There is something both intoxicating and unnerving about watching Robert De Niro's character fall through his existentialism into developing a conviction that "other people" are inferior to himself.
Taxi Driver follows disturbed loner, Travis Bickle, as he takes a job as a New York City cabbie after suffering from insomnia. As Travis makes his way through the neon-lit city as a taxi driver, he becomes one with the extremities of the night: cold, paranoid, and alone. He dreams of "cleaning up" the filthy city, becoming more and more detached from reality as he sees the darker sides of human nature.
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Victoria is a wild ride that will make any insomniac still up at 3 A.M. feel alive. While the beginning is a slow burn, the movie picks up as its world gradually becomes more unhinged as the night goes on. This German crime thriller is one of few movies that was shot in the long-take technique. This feat is difficult to pull off, but it adds to every bit of anxiety and edge that Victoria is known for.
The film follows a lonely young Spanish woman who has moved to Berlin. One night after leaving a club at 4 A.M., she meets four men who are denied entry and they invite her to take a walk through the city. Their wild night turns deadly as it falls into a bank robbery and dangerous secrets.
As a film that revolves around a punk rock band, Green Room barely focuses on the music. Rather, it centers on the intensity that is fostered at punk shows, with aggression and freedom that cannot be found elsewhere. The movie comes alive with violence and gore that stirs the plot and characters forward in their desire for unchained survival.
Following a punk band who becomes trapped in a secluded venue, the group becomes the target of violence from a gang of white-power skinheads. Green Room is, without a doubt, one of A24's best horror movies. The electricity that runs through the movie is unmatched and brings forth the idea that identity can change drastically because of the experiences you go through.
The sinister, paranoid energy in Karyn Kusama's The Invitation is palpable. Dread seeps into every scene as the movie falls further into a darkness that its characters cannot escape. This psychological thriller ticks off every box for an excellent after-midnight movie, with its harrowing characters, a suffocating Hollywood Hills home setting, and a dinner party from hell.
The film immediately makes you aware of the fact that every character has more secrets than they should. The Invitation follows a man named Will, who drives his new girlfriend to the house party of his ex-wife, Eden. Things become increasingly uncomfortable and threatening as Eden begins to talk about a cult-like group she recently joined.
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Drive's electrifying, thumping soundtrack is one of its most defining characteristics. The opening scene in which Ryan Gosling's character, Driver, is attempting a getaway job is one of the most memorable opening sequences in modern cinema. The movie takes place in the darkness of the late-night city and the shadows of daytime, with Driver never truly revealing himself.
Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman by day and moonlights as a getaway driver by night. He is a loner with an icy exterior but warms up to his beautiful neighbor, Irene. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver to help him in a high-stakes heist. Everything goes terribly wrong though, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene from vengeful men.
'Nightcrawler' (2014)
In one of Jake Gyllenhaal's most chilling performances of his career, Nightcrawler turns a disturbed recluse into an extraordinary manipulator, with dreams of crawling to the top of Los Angeles' photojournalists. The movie captures everything menacing about the streets and hills of L.A. after dark. Gyllenhaal even took inspiration from the real coyotes of the Hollywood hills in preparation for the role of gaunt-faced thief, Lou Bloom.
Nightcrawler has been described as one of the best thrillers of the 21st century, and for good reason. The stakes in the movie are constantly raised until Bloom's tolerance for his fellow citizens becomes erased. He'll do anything to get the "money shot" for news director, Nina, even if that means committing increasingly horrific crimes.
Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void is heavy, harrowing, and at times, difficult to watch. And this experimental fantasy-drama knows just how jolting it is to the senses. But what Noé truly accomplishes is an optimistic depiction of the afterlife, following an existence of pretending to live, chasing the next high, and refusing to die.
The movie will take you on the psychedelic tour of a lifetime, where Oscar's point of view goes on a spiritual journey through his past and future. The young addict is killed by police in Tokyo during a drug bust gone bad and travels through the extraordinary experience of death.
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