Netflix noir from down under

This belongs in your queue.

Fred MacMurray, of all people, summed up film noir best with this classic line in Double Indemnity in 1944:

“Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?”

If you like film noir, you know that this is the essence of if: sex, greed and murder. But I’m occasionally amazed at how certain filmmakers are  able to adhere precisely to these conventions and still come up with a tense, absorbing story. Case in point: The Square, a Australian neo-noir from 2008. The film opens with a married business man and his mistress having sex in her car. Things go quickly downhill from there. Along the way we have a bag of money — there’s always a bag of money — a wandering dog, a number of errant conclusions and a few unfortunate deaths. To be more specific would spoil the movie. But it’s the best neo-noir I’ve seen in awhile, and probably better than any of the last 10 Netflix movies I’ve rented. Dave Bob says check it out.