Top 5 Grittiest Films of All Time
For me, Grit is one of my go-to metrics when seeking out a film. It’s hard to quantify and could be defined in many ways, but it’s a quality that, if present, is always noteworthy in my estimation of enjoyment. Many of my favorite films have this abrasive, “in your face” quality, and watching them is a visceral experience. The best ones make your heart race and your teeth grind. They make you want to smoke cigarettes and fight bad guys.
According to Merriam Webster herself (don’t google it, she’s real, just trust me), Grit is defined as “firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.” To put it more succinctly: Having Grit is being a fucking badass. If I asked someone how if they enjoyed a newly released film, and they replied: “It’s fucking badass,” you can bet your left kidney I’m gonna watch it (apparently, the right kidney is sometimes considered “less important” because it’s smaller, but I’m no sizist. Plus, I’m a righty)
I think many Gritty films fall under the umbrella of Noir’s, but not all Noir’s are Gritty. For example, Fritz Lang’s “M” is one of my favorites. It’s a brilliant 1931 Noir with modernistic storytelling and, ahead of its time procedural elements. It includes all of the below metrics, but I would never think to describe it as “gritty”. While Grit is hard to quantify, my favorite Gritty films generally involve three things:
An anti-hero. Anti-heroes generally are characters who lack the typical black-and-white morality of your classic hero. They’re usually jaded and scoff at idealism. Maybe they’re divorced. They probably rip darts (that means smoking cigs for you nerds out there). A past trauma tends to give credence to their character and allows us as an audience to morally disengage with their fuckery, and still root for them. Maybe they’re a veteran of war, their children or family members were killed by criminals, or they bought tickets to Fyre Fest. Whatever it is, it allows us to get behind them while they break some rules, and inevitably, some faces.
Low-Key Lighting: In cinematography, the key light sets the mood of the image. As a primary light source, it can determine how the audience feels when watching a scene and can clue us into the themes without telling us anything. Low-key lighting plays with shadows and creates a high contrast between light and dark (If anyone else slept through Art History in college [still got a B], you might remember the “Chiaroscuro Effect”). Low-key lighting can be employed in either Black-and-White or Color films, but in my personal opinion, Grit is more prevalent in Color films.
Murder: A character needs to straight-up be murdered for me to include it in this list. At first, I thought there needed to be death, but I realized that’s not enough. There is nothing gritty about a character dying of a heart attack or dysentery on the Oregon Trail. Someone needs to play god and take another’s life. It’s fucked up, I know, but for me, an act of murder is all I need to get behind a cig smoking anti-hero, waiting in the shadows to pounce on the son-of-a-bitch who did this and get some sweet revenge!
Bonus: a bleak ending that leaves a sour taste in your mouth. I like a movie that makes me think, “Man, we are so fucked” at the end.
Now that you know my metrics, I’d like to point out that I have not seen every movie ever made. Therefore, I may have left some out. And by the way, if you haven’t seen one of the films listed, and you want to, maybe don’t read past the title, as there may be some spoilers (oops). What follows are my Top 5 Grittiest films of all time:
The King of New York: Deemed, “an absolute cinematic masterpiece”, by Quentin Tarantino, Abel Ferrara’s 1990 crime drama follows Frank White (Played by Christopher Walken), a newly free drug kingpin, as he reunites with his old gang and immediately starts conspiring to take over the criminal underworld, and reclaim his status as… you guessed it. Biggie used the moniker “Frank White” because of this movie. The cast is absolutely bonkers. Walken, Fishburne, Snipes, Buscemi, Esposito. David Caruso (of CSI fame) leads the task force turned street gang aiming to take down White. Bojan Bazelli, the DP of K.O.N.Y, uses his signature blue filtration to bring out the horror of the New York streets. Bojan shot another one of my favorite gritty crime dramas, Deep Cover (also starring Larry Fishburne and a great antagonist role for Jeff Goldblum), and I don’t know that there is a more qualified cinematographer in the game who accentuates neo-noir elements as he does.
Fun Fact: while working at a camera rental house in the late 2010s, I was assigned a series of Chevy commercials that Bojan was the DP for (If not him, it was Paul Cameron, another amazing DP, and now, Director). The preps involved anywhere from six to twelve cameras and usually an equal number of camera assistants trying to get the fuck out of the office before 9 pm on any given Friday. On one particular prep, I was tasked with tracking down all the blue-ish filters we had in-house because that was Bojan’s style. I began bitching about the task to one of the camera assistants, exclaiming, “Why does the guy who shot Burlesque need Blue Streak filters for a Chevy Commercial?!”. Now, in my defense, that was the only film I knew him for at the time because there was a poster in our office, and it stars Christina Aguilera and Cher, which was enough for me to write it (and him) off. The Camera assistant wryly smiled and simply replied, “Because he’s Bojan.” After watching the King of New York AND Deep Cover, I realized how insanely ignorant I had been to his greatness. Bojan, if you ever read this, just know I’m sorry. I was just a dumb kid (now a dumb man). If I am ever fortunate enough to have one of my crime-drama screenplays made into a film, you are my first choice for DP (And feel free to bring up this anecdote when you reject the offer).
Anyway, back to the film. The dance that Walken does when he reunites with his gang for the first time since being released NEEDS to be recreated as a team touchdown celebration. This is one of the most badass, deranged films I’ve ever seen, and maybe Fishburne’s best career performance. I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the film, which is uttered by White himself after a few hoods “rob” him on a subway train: “I got work for you. Come to the Plaza Hotel. Ask for Frank White”.
Narc: This might be one of the most under-acknowledged police procedures I’ve ever seen. The opening sequence, a handheld chase-down of a drug dealer in Detroit, defines the origins of an Anti-Hero. Trying to do right, Nick Tellis, an undercover Narc (played by Jason Patric), kills the dealer, who holds a child hostage, but a stray from Tellis’ gun hits the child’s pregnant mom, causing her to miscarry. A year and change after the events, Tellis is recruited to investigate the death of another undercover and is partnered with a jaded vet and former partner to the deceased, Henry Oak (played by Ray Liotta).
This film had me wondering why Jason Patric wasn’t a bigger star after this, but it appears he had a solid Broadway run. A decade earlier, he had another great role in 1991’s Rush, where he played an undercover Narc (again). It’s also worth checking out, and the screenplay is written by one of my favorite authors, Pete Dexter.
This Joe Carnahan-directed film is a wild ride that pays definite homage to The French Connection. The film has palpable grit from the get-go. It has a morally ambiguous ending that lingers with you while the credits roll. Narc reminds me of how much I love and miss Ray Liotta. I never knew him, but I once had a dream that my dad knew him, and I was pissed at my dad for not introducing me. He was just casually like, “Oh, I never told you I knew Ray?” No! you didn’t. What the fuck Dad?! and it’s Mr. Liotta to you! Also, the limited edition 2-disk Blu-ray has one of the dopest covers and is 100% worth buying for all of the special features.
Se7en: this Fincher classic has some of my favorite crime drama tropes: A jaded veteran detective approaching retirement, a younger, naive hotshot partner, and a bookworm serial killer with a god complex. Okay, maybe not the last one so much, but Kevin Spacey’s performance as serial killer John Doe is as memorable as its twist ending and the oft-quoted line my Amazon delivery drivers (usually) laugh at: “What’s in the box?”. There was one time when a driver told me what was actually in the box, and I awkwardly reached for it and just said, “Thanks. I’ve been expecting this”. I hope it made their day, and no, it wasn’t >!Gwyneth Paltrow’s head!< (sidebar: New Line really should have considered the marketing benefits of selling boxed heads. Imagine the ancillary revenue!).
Se7en follows Detectives Somerset and Mills (Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt) investigating a string of gruesome murders in an unnamed crime-ridden metropolis. This was Andrew Kevin Walker’s first script, and if it weren’t for Fincher, Freeman, and New Line’s President of Production, Michael De Luca, the iconic ending would’ve likely been butchered (I had to!) for being “too dark.” But before Fincher even joined the project, AKW wrote THIRTEEN drafts due to its bleakness before the studio that originally purchased the rights unfortunately (and thankfully) went under. The original draft somehow ended up in Fincher’s hands, and when he brought it to New Line, they realized, but it was too late. This is the version of the script he wanted to direct. He’d been fucked by the studios with his last project (Alien 3), and he wouldn’t let it happen again.
Fincher and Darius Khondji (Cinematographer of Se7en) somehow make LA look unrecognizable (and yes — the rain is real!). The film’s sound design adds so much psychological terror to an unseen environment, emphasizing the commonplace violence of the character’s world. This film inspired future film’s use of title design, as it depicts the killer’s preparation, whereas many filmmakers didn’t think to use the opening title sequence to depict any narrative. What sets this film apart from the others on the list is that Mills (played by Brad Pitt) doesn’t truly become an “anti-hero” until the very end, if that’s even what you want to call him. I feel like a sequel with Mills in the role of Jaded Vet would’ve also made this list, but thankfully, one was never made.
No Country for Old Men: the only Western to grace this list, if you can even call it that, NCFOM features maybe the best antagonist in film history: Anton Chigurh. Chigurh (Played by Javier Bardem) is a psychopathic, cattle-gun-carrying hitman more concerned with getting blood on his shoes than the futile pleas of his victims. He’s hunting down a man who stumbled upon a drug deal gone wrong and left with a briefcase containing 2 million dollars. Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy, NCFOM is masterfully crafted in every way. I wouldn’t shave a minute off of this film. If you hate the ending of this film, it is my opinion that you are simply no fun. Get over it. Not everything has closure. That’s life. And cut-to-blacks are awesome. I am also of the thinking that, if a movie pisses you off, it’s doing something right.
As excited as I am for John Hillcoat to adapt my favorite McCarthy novel, Blood Meridian, I don’t think any director(s) has captured McCarthy’s essence as the Coens did. The opening narration alone, which is not from the novel, is proof of that. I will never forget the first time I saw this film. I saw it in theaters in ‘07 with my Grandma. She would always take me to the movies, especially if the daily news gave a film four stars. What she didn’t know is that the night before, I went to my first high school party and got utterly shit-faced. I’d barely slept and was experiencing my first hangover. I fell asleep in the theater and woke up to gunshots several times before promptly falling back asleep. I had no idea what I missed. This film is packed with philosophy and themes that my fifteen-year-old brain would’ve never been able to digest at the time.
I think this film says a lot about violence in the world and our inability to control it. Of all of the films on this list, NCFOM has the most daytime exteriors and the least low-key lighting, which somehow makes it even more gritty. This might be the Coen’s most serious film, as it doesn’t offer the typical dark humor that they’re known for (unless laughing at a haircut counts).
Taxi Driver: Somehow, this is by far the most disturbing film on this list. Travis Bickle (played by Robert DeNiro) is a disillusioned outsider who moonlights as a taxi driver to deal with his insomnia, which, by itself, seems like grounds for dismissal as any type of driver. “I can’t sleep, thought I could maybe drive people around.” God’s Lonely Man, as he calls himself in his narration. He’s a Vietnam vet who reinforces his loneliness by his sick and twisted nature. While he drives, he sees the decaying city and wants to rid it of its filth and scum. He obsessively pursues (stalks) a campaign volunteer and later tries to ‘save’ a 12-year-old prostitute (played by actual 12-year-old Jodie Foster, who had to meet with a psychiatrist to ensure that making the film wouldn’t “damage her morals”). When Travis can’t kill a senator, he settles for a seedy pimp, Sport (played by Harvey Keitel), whose style undoubtedly inspired Tommy Wiseau’s look.
This was a film I paid homage to in my high school thesis film, “Girth Brooks.”, which somehow fuses Billy Madison’s ending with Bickle’s monologue before he attempts to “cleanse” the city. My film teacher thankfully loved it, despite the vivid use of profanity, and “Girth Brooks” took home the best supporting actor award at my high school film festival (maybe my proudest moment to date).
Deniro has an insane run starting in ’73 with Mean Streets, followed by ’74’s The Godfather pt2 (which he won the best actor Oscar for), then Taxi Driver in ’76, the Deer Hunter in ’78, and Raging Bull in ’80. And that’s barely a decade of his 60-year career. Scorsese directs the shit out of this picture, portraying” a sense of guilt and paranoia through camera movement.” For me, This is a film that can be easy to dislike simply because of the way it makes you feel. It’s undeniably well done but explores a world many would rather not look in the eyes. It’s wonderfully shot by Michael Chapman, brilliantly written by Paul Schrader, and has an unforgettable Score by Bernard Herrmann, who passed away the night he finished it. Taxi Driver explores the thin line between being perceived as a hero or as a villain. Needless to say, it’s sandpaper on your face. “You talkin’ to me?”
What would a list be without Honorable Mentions:
Mystic River: My favorite Clint Eastwood-directed movie. Sean Penn’s best role after I Am Sam (just kidding), and probably Tim Robbins’s best role after Shawshank. This film is a more grounded crime drama than any other on the list. It has police procedural elements that I love and Boston accents that I love even more. It’s haunting, shocking, and oddly beautiful. I’m a sucker for a good revenge film and it plays thematically on many levels.
Heat: Pacino. DeNiro. The diner scene. Nothing could make me hate this film. Not even a sequel (coming in 2026). It’s in my all-time top 5, just not my Gritty top 5.
To Live and Die in L.A.: Maybe the first film to use of the phrase, “I’m getting too old for this shit”?. I absolutely love the title sequence in this film. It’s absurd and a little sexy. “You want bread? Fuck a baker”.
That’s my list. And to clarify, it is in no particular order. I don’t care to compare the grittiness of each film and give them some arbitrary numerical score to rank them. I simply aimed to compile a list of my favorites and list them for the enjoyment of anyone who also googled “Top 5 Grittiest films of all time” and found nothing of substance.
Please feel free to ask why I forgot to include “The French Connection,” “Pulp Fiction,” or “Passion of the Christ” (they fucking crucify a guy in that movie!!). I hope you enjoyed reading this and would love to hear any thoughts, positive or negative, on the matter(s) of grittiness.
‘Til next time.
PC