Meta Noir.

A quarter of the way into the new century, we have left behind the Postmodernism of the second half of the twentieth century. Whilst there is little consensus on what defines today’s paradox of shared experience—a world caught between digital revolution and collective global responsibility in the face of climate change—the core human element remains unchanged.

A century ago, the German Expressionism of the 1920s prioritised the artist's inner emotional landscape over any attempt to replicate reality. This avant-garde movement with its oneiric elements and chiaroscuro lighting would go on to influence Hollywood’s film noir. Whilst the noir genre has continually reinvented itself over the decades— from neo and neon, to cyber and urban noir—at its heart, it still grapples with the existential human condition when confronted by adversity and the threat of annihilation.

Contemporary theorists have coined our current era ‘Metamodernism’, characterised by a return to a new sincerity and a sense of hopeful pragmatism. It feels fitting for the next evolution of the noir genre. This is film noir re:framed, Meta Noir.