Noirvember: the best noir movies according to critics

14 November, 2024

Strangers On A Train

With the spooky season officially over, some film buffs set aside November as the month for all things noir.

Known in certain circles as Noirvember, this month will see many cinephiles celebrate the essential noir films, a genre typically used to describe stylish crime dramas with a darker edge in its themes or tone.

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Noirvember has become an annual tradition for some, but selecting what films to watch can be an arduous task if you’re not familiar with the genre’s highlights. If you’re still struggling for picks, we’ve listed some essentials below as selected by the critics.

What are the best movies for Noirvember?

If you want a comprehensive list of the best noir films, Rotten Tomatoes has compiled the 100 best flicks in the genre based on the website’s critics score.

For the cream of the crop, we’ve listed the top 10 movies in the list below.

1. Laura (1944)
2. Shadow Of A Doubt (1943)
3. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
4. The Third Man (1949)
5. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
6. Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
7. Strangers On A Train (1951)
8. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
9. Detour (1945)
10. Double Indemnity (1944)

Otto Preminger’s Laura takes the top spot, with a rating of 100%. The film follows Manhattan detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) as he investigates the murder of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), only to find himself growing obsessed with the case. At the time of its release, it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Director.

Alfred Hitchcock gets two nods in the top ten with Shadow Of A Doubt and Strangers On A Train. The former is a psychological thriller starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten, while the latter is based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

The other director to get two films on the list is Billy Wilder, with noir black comedy Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity starring Fred MacMurray.