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Okay, so a couple are grieving the loss of their young daughter. They go on a camping trip and while there they are killed by an incongruous carnival troupe. And then they wake up in the same tent. Rinse, repeat, with very minor variation. Rinse, repeat multiple times. Each cycle is the same length of time. Variation is minimal AND they do the pretentious thing of lingering on a shot more for longer than necessary. Avoid at all costs unless you are looking for a cure for insomnia. Ignore the positive reviews and go watch Groundhog Day or Happy Death Day or any other movie.

If you ever wanted to see a blend of 40s film-noir and classic (30s to 40s) horror, this is the movie for you. It opens with murder of a young woman, Rosalind, which is quickly written off by the police as suicide. So, now we know there is a murderer on the loose. Rosalind was the secretary of a seemingly-wealthy host of a popular mystery radio-show, Victor Grandison (Claude Rains). Strange events soon start taking place at his household. The script seems to have been written with film-noir in mind.There is murder, deceit, suspense, a damsel in distress, a guy playing detective, etc. However, one distinctive feature of noir is that it is grounded reality, more so than other genres and script fails at this by incorporating some rather improbable events. How to remedy this? By adding a touch of horror of course (a genre where suspension of disbelief is stretched quite often). At the centre of it is Claude Rains giving a superb performance. Suave, calm assured, sinister (and caring), his persona is more of a horror villain (as opposed tough and street-smart noir characters). It is a joy to watch him. The rest of the cast is serviceable. Some other reviewers have complained about too many plot threads. While I agree with them, I did not find it distracting. Could this movie have been a teensy bit better? Yes. But, is it worth watching? Yes again.

Nightcrawler follows the career-rise of crime journalist, Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a man as slimy as the creatures under the rocks, as he moves from being an observer to a participant in the crimes he records. Aiding and abetting him is Nina Romina (Rene Russo),a TV-news veteran at a local station, who shares the same (lack of) values as Bloom.

The movie has a lot going for it. A thriller could not have asked for a better setup; there are the crimes being filmed on the one hand and on the other, there are the actions of the protagonist himself as he hunts those crime stories. And there is additional horror for the audience in that the news they watch on a daily basis is the result of such depravity.

The movie has a subject matter that has never been dealt with by mainstream cinema and a great cast with the lead actors sharing a particularly good (and foul) chemistry. In spite of all this the film only comes out as mediocre. It has a strong first-half; the characters are introduced well and it easily captures our attention. However the second-half comes across as stale; some of the scenarios feel repetitive, the ending is predictable and the characters too start to feel flat. The film also does some the mistakes other thrillers (I am looking at you Gone Girl) do; give unrealistic liberties to the bad guys and makes all the other characters, particularly cops, way too dumb and/or incompetent.

The movie tries to be a thriller-cum-commentary on some of the journalistic practices but ends being a slightly below-average, pop-corn flick.