Nick Byrd

Arguably my favorite movie of all-time, not arguably the greatest soundtrack in modern cinema. This movie introduces a detached, cold, calculated driver and follows his arc of falling in love, wanting out of a life of crime, trying to reconcile his dissonance, but like the scorpion, against his own self-interest, he ultimately succombs. Winding Refn uses beautiful cinematography, near perfect story telling, and engaging framing techniques to maximize the fantastic performance of Gosling. No words are wasted, no scene is unnecessary, just an expertly paced neo-noir masterpiece.