Film Noir · Ranked
Best Film Noir, Ranked by IQ Score
From classical-Hollywood noir (Double Indemnity) to neo-noir (Chinatown, L.A. Confidential). Ranked.
Film noir is American cinema's most-canonical mid-20th-century genre. The classical era (roughly 1944-1958) produced the canonical-form entries (Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Out of the Past, Touch of Evil). The neo-noir era (roughly 1974-onward) produced the genre's most-canonical American auteur work (Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Mulholland Drive, No Country for Old Men).
Anchor picks: Chinatown (1974, Polanski), the canonical neo-noir text. L.A. Confidential (1997, Hanson), the canonical late-1990s neo-noir. Mulholland Drive (Lynch, 2001). Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950). Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944).
15 titles · ranked by IQ Score
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
-
13
-
14
-
15
Save this list. Get the next one.
New ranked lists and the editorials behind them, by email. Every list scored on the same published rubric. No spam, no studio money.
Founding Circle
Lifetime membership, one payment.
Founders get the monthly founders newsletter, quarterly deep dives with a 30-day founder-first window, two title requests a year, and a place on the founders wall. 100 lifetime spots at $99.
Claim your spot →Browse every ranked list on TV Intelligentsia
202 ranked-by-IQ lists, filmographies, decade hubs, year hubs, character rankings, streaming-platform lists, and editorial curations. All scored on the same published rubric.
See all ranked lists → Open the full database