Manager: neil jordan
artists: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange
Year: 2022
Premiere: 12 May 2023
★★★
In Los Angeles during the late 1930s, a mysterious blonde woman draws the attention of a weary detective named Philip Marlowe. A wealthy, troubled family hides secrets beneath its polished surface. A murder cracks open the door to a murky underworld where drugs flow through a studio lot and reputations are bought with fear. The city glows with neon as rain slicks the streets, and glass doors reflect faces that hide more than they reveal. This is a pure, lean take on film noir, rendered in color with a bold, calligraphic sensibility that prioritizes mood over pulp bravado. The director, Neil Jordan, crafts a film that feels like a living photograph, each frame weighted with meaning and memory. Neeson embodies Marlowe in a way that honors the enduring incarnation of Raymond Chandler’s private eye while letting the character breathe in a modern cadence. He stalks through trouble, thinks on his feet, and always seems one step closer to trouble than to truth. The performance anchors a narrative built on the tension between perception and deception, where every encounter adds another shade to the case.