Crime and the criminals who commit it – that’s the subject of film noir, a genre that emerged in the US in the immediate aftermath of World War II, a shadowy corner of an optimistic world. While the burgeoning middle class was busy birthing the boomers, grifters were grifting, detectives were detecting, and femmes were being fatale, all in stark, intoxicating black and white.
Since then, the term noir has proved to impressively elastic, no longer just describing that particular genre, time and place. We’ve had the Nordic noir boom, the Californian sunshine noirs of the ‘70s that begat the neon-hued neo-noirs of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and even the occasional local offering, although Australian noir has yet to acquire its own specific sobriquet (although yeah noir is there for the taking).
Here, then, is a wide sampling of SBS On Demand’s current offering of cinema – and TV, too. So, dim the lights, draw the venetian blinds, and treat yourself to one of these dark delights.
Reyka
This grim but compelling South African series sees Kim Engelbrecht as investigative psychologist Reyka Gama, who tracks down the worst that the mean streets (and sprawling cane fields) of Durban have to offer, while struggling to process her own trauma as the victim of an abduction in her youth. Game of Thrones’ Iain Glenn crops up as Angus Speelman, the farmer who kept her captive for four years, the Hannibal Lecter to her Clarice Starling. Season 2 sees Reyka tracking down a serial killer who targets lovers at a remote seaside overlook, while delving further into her troubled past.
Wisting
Based on the novels by Jørn Lier Horst, this Norwegian police procedural series follows the exploits of the titular senior detective William Wisting (Sven Nordin) as he tracks down some of the serial killers that Scandinavia seems to never run short of. For the first two seasons he was aided by visiting FBI agent Maggie Griffin (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his journalist daughter, Line (Thea Green Lundberg). Moss didn’t return for the start of season 3, but we get another import in the form of British thesp Rupert Evans as the father of a boy whose abduction is the focus of Wisting’s investigation.
Seasons 1, 2 and Season 3 part 1 are streaming now at SBS On Demand, with Season 3 Part 2 coming late 2024.
Stream free On Demand
Wisting
series • Crime drama • Norwegian Bokmål
MA15+
series • Crime drama • Norwegian Bokmål
MA15+
Tokyo Vice
Based on the memoir by journalist Jake Adelstein, who worked for one of Japan’s major newspapers in the ‘90s and early 2000s, this slick Michael Mann production sees Ansel Elgort as Adelstein, navigating Tokyo’s underworld under the wing of Ken Watanabe’s seasoned detective, Hiroto Katagiri. Yakuza intrigue abounds, of course, as the wet-behind-the-ears Adelstein learns that the line between law and larceny is extremely blurry on the neon-lit streets.
Both seasons of Tokyo Vice are streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Tokyo Vice
series • Crime drama • Japanese
MA15+
series • Crime drama • Japanese
MA15+
Felony
This 2013 thriller from director Matthew Saville and writer and star Joel Edgerton sees the latter as troubled Aussie cop Mal Toohey, whose life starts to unravel after he runs down a child while driving drunk. His fellow boys in blue, led by cynical senior cop Carl Summer (Tom Wilkinson), cover up for him, but the guilt begins to gnaw. A study of compromised morality and culpability, this searing local production is a must-see.
Felony is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Felony
Crime drama • thriller • 2013
Crime drama • thriller • 2013
Kin
We find ourselves in Dublin’s gangland demimonde for this crime saga, where trouble is brewing between rival crime lords Frank Kinsella (Aidan Gillen) and Eamon Cunningham (Ciarán Hinds). The return of Michael ‘The Magician’ Kinsella (Daredevil’s Charlie Cox), just released from prison, could tip the balance of power, but a sudden explosion of violence could upset the applecart for all and sundry. And that’s just season one, with a new brace of trouble facing the Kinsellas in season 2. Simmering and tense, this is a superb Irish noir – and if you’re in the mood for more in this vein, make time for Love/Hate, also on SBS on Demand.
Both seasons of Kin are streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Kin
series • drama
MA15+
series • drama
MA15+
All five seasons of Love/Hate are streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Love/Hate
series • drama
MA15+
series • drama
MA15+
You Were Never Really Here
Joaquin Phoenix is troubled vigilante Joe, who finds himself betrayed and on the run after rescuing Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), the kidnapped daughter of a senator, from an illegal brothel. The target of a politically powerful paedophile ring, Joe battles both those out to kill him and the demons born out of his own abusive past. In synopsis, Lynn Ramsay’s adaptation of Jonathan Ames’ novel sounds like a rote revenge thriller, but its insistence on investigating the deep scars of its protagonist make it arresting, if troubling, viewing.
You Were Never Really Here is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
You Were Never Really Here
drama • thriller • 2017
drama • thriller • 2017
Killer Joe
Late legend William Friedkin brings us this sleazy slice of southern-fried noir, adapted from Tracy Lett’s play. When trailer trash petty criminals Chris (Emile Hirsch) and his father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) hatch a plan to kill the latter’s estranged wife for insurance money, they hire corrupt cop and freelance assassin “Killer" Joe Cooper (a charismatically creepy Matthew McConaughey). But Joe would rather have Chris’ mentally disabled sister, Dottie (Juno Temple), and it just gets worse from there. It’s as queasy as it sounds, but it’s impossible to avert your gaze – if you have the stomach for it.
Killer Joe is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Killer Joe
Crime drama • thriller • 2011
Crime drama • thriller • 2011
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The original Swedish screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s wildly popular crime novel, and the first of a trilogy (the sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, are also streaming). Hired by a powerful patriarch to investigate the long-ago disappearance of his niece, disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) teams up with Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) – punk, hacker, abuse survivor, and one of crime fiction’s most iconic characters. Ground zero for the Nordic Noir craze, this is guaranteed to addict you to the subgenre – if you’re not already.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (along with ) is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Crime drama • mystery • 2009
Crime drama • mystery • 2009
THE at SBS On Demand roams from Nordic Noir to Neo-Noir. Settle in for a world of shady cops, hard-boiled criminals, and moral ambiguity in all its forms.
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