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Nightcrawler's Lou Bloom, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, might be one of the creepiest villains of the last decade. It's not just the profession of filming grizzly accidents for the news, but in the way he carries himself. Lou Bloom is what makes Nightcrawler such a great film. And Gyllenhaal does a phenomenal job of selling Lou Bloom's darkest desires.
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Your discretion is advised
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Few ideas have been glorified more than that of the American dream
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that you can accomplish anything with enough hard work and perseverance. But for some characters, that earworm becomes a noise so loud
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it deafens every bit of decency within them. Released in 2014, Nightcrawler was written and directed by Dan Gilroy
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who had previously worked as a screenwriter pinning The Bourne Legacy and The Fall
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He had originally wanted to make a film about famed photographer Arthur Ouija-Fillig
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an infamous crime scene photographer whose prominence rose in 1930s New York
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But as time passed and Gilroy was unable to find the right angle
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he discovered the world of stringers. Also known as nightcrawlers, stringers are more or less freelance journalists
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often working within the field of photography or videography. Gilroy thought that this was the modern interpretation of Ouija
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someone who followed emergency services like the police or fire department in order to get the first stab at a grisly photo with an uncompromised lens on humanity
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He's dead. Get this shot. While Gilroy had the shape of his story
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he knew he needed a backbone other than plot to carry it through. That's when Gilroy decided to focus not on the traditional lead character
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but instead an anti-hero. While an anti-hero can still be our main character
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they often lack the heroic qualities of your typical hero. But Gilroy knew that if done correctly
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he'd have a character that not only served as the focal point of the story
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but also one that held a mirror up to the viewer. Which is where Lou Bloom comes into existence
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When I say that I want these things, I mean that I want them, and I don't want to have to ask again
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Played perfectly flawed by Jake Gyllenhaal we first meet Bloom trespassing on private property stealing metal assaulting a guard then hawking said stolen metal while wearing the watch of the guard
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who confronted him. It is expert character shorthand in mere moments. Within this quick opening, we learn so much about Bloom
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Firstly, and most simply, he's a criminal. We see Bloom doesn't believe the laws apply to him
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Much like the opening to The Matrix, it is almost a short film unto itself that shows
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us a main character and gives us just enough mystery to entice us into their world
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You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming
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As the movie ratchets along its anxiety-inducing pace, we begin to understand that Nightcrawler
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is a movie about cold calculations. The plot itself is bare-bones noir
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A criminal uses their loose morals to do what most can't or won't in order to rise in power
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and worth. When Bloom first stumbles upon a group of stringers photographing a violent car accident
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he learns there's money to be made here and makes another cold calculation. He'll sell them fear and violence, and he's more than willing to bend the violence to his wants
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That coldness and detachment is one of Bloom's most terrifying traits. When he realizes he needs a camera in order to record footage
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he simply steals a bicycle and sells it for video equipment. When he realizes the bloodier the better, he alters crime scenes in order to get the shot he wants
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Unlike most villains, Bloom isn't drawn to violence or crime. It is simply a means to an end
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That philosophy also applies to the people in his life. Friends don't pressure friends to sleep with them
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A friend is a gift you give yourself. Nightcrawler has few auxiliary characters
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Rene Russo as news producer Nina Romina, Riz Ahmed as Bloom's first and sole
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employee Rick and Bill Paxton as established stringer Joe Loder But in the mind of Bloom they only exist to usher his ones along Loder is there to show Bloom how the gig economy works Rick is supposed to get them to the work more quickly
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and Romina is supposed to buy the work. This is very much a work-your-own-hours
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charge surge rates for more violent footage, and negotiate-to-top-buyers sort of job
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What Bloom does for the stringer's profession is attempt to move it along from a ragtag operation
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of night owl ambulance chasers to a more prim and proper service
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And the terrifying thing is, by the end of the movie, he accomplishes just that
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It is my hope that through hard work and commitment, you will continue to pursue your career goals
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as full-time employees of Video Production News. Before he can get there, though
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we see another horrific trait in his steadfastness at all costs. There is not one, but two moments where he watches a friend die
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while he calmly holds a camera up to shocked eyes. Even when they're dying, Bloom is still trying to squeeze everything he can from them
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And while you could argue Loder lives, the fact remains Bloom tampered with his van
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With Rick, Bloom clearly tricks him to approach an armed criminal knowing the outcome beforehand
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As Rick lies dying, Bloom tells him, I can't jeopardize my company's success to retain an untrustworthy employee
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The most terrifying aspect of these overt attacks is how goal-oriented they are
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Neither of these moments are fueled by aggression or emotion. In both cases, Bloom sees each as an obstacle to him achieving his goals
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It's the same calculation we saw when stealing the medal. These things are in his way
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He could injure or kill both to remove them, so he'll remove them
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The end goal of all these acts of violence reduced to basic problem-solving
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is what Gilroy and Gyllenhaal wanted to explore. When interviewed for IndieWire
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the screenwriter and director stated, He's a hyper-capitalist. And capitalism is a religion It a religion that gives him sanity and which ultimately drives him insane and pushes him over the edge In this quote Gilroy is clearly trying to make a statement on
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the lengths people will go in order to accomplish their goals. It's a system so tied into our
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everyday lives that the acts of purchase, consume, and repeat are as ordinary as breathing. And we
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have to give credit to Gyllenhaal for bringing this character to life. When Gilroy initially
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told Gyllenhaal that he saw Bloom as a starved coyote, the actor took on himself to lose over
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30 pounds before shooting in order to have a literal starved physique
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Gyllenhaal imbues Bloom with small physical tics like his sullen smile or the way he quickly
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pulls his hair back that gives the character a real sense of life. He has made a career bouncing
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between offbeat roles like Donnie Darko and more mainstream work like Mysterio, but through them all
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his relatability always shines through. There's an approachability that immediately disarms you
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When we're told at the end of the movie, I will never ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do
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myself. Coming from Gyllenhaal, it would be reassuring. Having sat with Bloom for the last
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two hours, it's terrifying because we know there's nothing he wouldn't do
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Lou Bloom is a borderline sociopath fueled by capitalism. But maybe the most frightening aspect of the character is that he is, himself, a byproduct
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Without Romina demanding more eye-grabbing headlines, the deaths left in Bloom's wake
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would never have happened. And without the public short attention span that only focuses on eye-grabbing headlines
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Romina would never have demanded the shock to begin with. Bloom remains a cautionary example of what happens when you buy into the lie that you are owed something
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when our starvation for success begins to eat itself
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