Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

A gripping swan song from one of American cinema's finest directors.

Directed by: Sidney Lumet

Cinematography by: Ron Fortunato

Country: United States

Genre: Neo-Noir/Crime/Drama/Thriller

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead capped off the legendary career of American director Sidney Lumet, a film career that began in 1957 - he had previously worked in television - with 12 Angry Men, one of the greatest feature directorial debuts in cinematic history. Lumet’s films often deal with moral corruption within individuals, and/or systemic corruption and abuse of power within organizations: this film is the former.

It’s a twisting neo-noir full of isolation in which two brothers, in a cascade of brazen decisions, pull off the mother of all botch jobs on a jewelry heist. The fallout of one consequence culminates to several others; repercussions merge, snowballing out of control before slamming into the film’s finale, leaving behind an ending worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy in the settling dust.