Techno-noir may not have ever been a major genre, but it delivers twists and turns in a futuristic city where things are darker than they seem. Films like Johnny Mnemonic, Blade Runner and 12 Monkeys popularized the genre, but they’re far from the only options.
One of my overlooked favorites of the genre is Dark City, a mind-bending techno-noir thriller that explores the idea of identity against a city swathed in darkness. Released in 1998, the underrated gem preceded The Matrix by a year, and it’s streaming for free on Tubi right now
I’ve been a fan of techno-noir vibes since my first time watching Blade Runner, and the ’90s delivered a spate of excellent options that let me feast my eyes on beautiful sets, amazing stories and worlds that felt real and gritty in the best of ways.
Dark City delivers a futuristic city swathed in shadows, with vibes from the 1950s like automats, or the costume design, and it’s a style I can’t get enough of.
A man wakes up in a bathtub with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Almost immediately, things go off the rails. There’s a dead woman in the next room, a cryptic phone call telling our unknown protagonist to get out of there, and a mystery that begins to unfold in the dark streets of the city. John Murdoch figures out who he is slowly through a series of clues, like his name in a ledger at the motel and his briefcase.
As he tries to figure out what happened, he’s beset on two sides. Police Inspector Frank Bumstead is trying to unravel a case of dead prostitutes that’s leading him toward John. And then there are the mysterious “strangers.”
Tall, pale men who seemingly have the ability to change reality via “tuning.” John is cornered by these strangers, but in a moment of desperation manages to alter reality and escape their clutches.
Soon after, the clock strikes midnight, and John watches as every person in the city falls asleep, and the strangers use their mysterious abilities to change the architecture of the city itself.
As John tries to recover his memories, he remembers he is from a small town outside the city called Shell Beach. However, any attempts to reach it end in failure. At this point, John is apprehended by the inspector, who believes him when he explains that something strange is going on in the city and uses his ability to tune to prove it.
The atmosphere, set design, and overall cinematography in Dark City make every frame worth noticing. The 100-minute length is infused with mystery, drama and more questions than answers. The strangers stalk John and the inspector, a local doctor who has information about the strangers and where they came from, and the city continues to change and trap everyone within its alleys.
I won’t spoil the third act for you when you find out what the strangers are really after, and the methods they employ to find answers. When John begins to unravel the mystery he woke up inside of, things go from weird to truly out there. The murders, the amnesia and the city are all linked by the strangers, and once you find out what happened, there is no going back.
Dark City reached cult classic status with good reason. While it might not have been a box office hit, it’s still an amazing watch 27 years later. It’s one of those sci-fi movies that gets me every time, and the cast delivers a top-notch performance. Sream it for free on Tubi, and discover the mystery for yourself.
