The term film noir was typically applied to Hollywood crime movies of the 1940s and 1950s. It literally means 'dark movie', indicating a sense of something sinister and shadowy, but also expressing a style of cinematography.

Artists and directors typically refer to 'classic noir' in the use of tilted camera angles, unbalanced framing, and contrast of light and darkness. Thematically blurring of the lines between good and bad, right and wrong, and a motif of revenge, paranoia, and alienation, among other sensibilities.