One of the most fascinating and bizarre thrillers of the fall, Nightcrawler, continues to pique our interests with its very strange, off-kilter trailers. The teaser, which featured a lot of Jake Gyllenhaal addressing the camera, emphasized the film’s dark comedy. A more recent trailer highlighted its disorienting psychological themes. Now, we have the newest preview for the film, which reveals more about the crime elements of the story. Nevertheless, the different types of marketing are probably suitable for a movie about a man with a very offbeat personality.
Jake Gyllenhaal has been on a roll in the last two years, with acclaimed turns in End of Watch and Prisoners. His role in Denis Villeneuve’s duality drama Enemy was the finest of his career and signalled the arrival of more daring performances from the Oscar-nominated actor. Nightcrawler, which premieres at TIFF (like Prisoners and Enemy did last year), is already generating awards buzz for Gyllenhaal. The subject matter may be too grim and sleazy for all audiences – the film feels like a scuzzier L.A. Confidential, if directed by Michael Mann – but it looks compelling nonetheless.
In this new trailer, Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom is desperate to make his mark as a freelance crime reporter in Los Angeles. To get a bigger scoop on major news stories, though, he also resists involving the police, which gets him in trouble – and makes him a part of the bigger story. Judging by this trailer, Nightcrawler could be a truly fascinating look at tabloid reportage and journalism ethics.
The thriller is the directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy), who is the younger brother of Michael Clayton writer/director Tony Gilroy. He is also the husband of Rene Russo, who co-stars in Nightcrawler as a conniving TV anchor.
Stay tuned for more about Nightcrawler as TIFF reviews pile in during early September. Until then, though, check out the new trailer below.
