There’s more to neon lighting than bling and glitz. Neon lights tend to agitate you without you ever realizing it.
Neon colors represent grit, grime, wonder, mystery, and most importantly, a certain unease that imprints itself into your psyche.
At the same time, when used symbolically, neon lighting becomes a central character in the narrative, guiding the audience through its emotions while visually underscoring its central themes and conflicts.
Clearly, neon lights can talk!
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of movies that have heavily relied on neon lighting to enhance their narrative.
11 Movies That Have Used Neon Lighting as Their Second Language
This list spans beyond neo-noir cinema!
1. The Zero Theorem (2013)
'The Zero Theorem'Credit: Amplify
Terry Gilliam’s dystopian sci-fi, The Zero Theorem, explores the question, “What is the meaning of life?” through the eyes of a lonely computer programmer, Qohen, as he sets out to prove the Zero Theorem. The irony of his quest lies in the fact that Qohen is searching for the meaning of life while inadvertently working to prove a theorem stating that life has no meaning.
The use of neon lighting beautifully underscores the societal decay around Qohen, while creating a stark contrast with the black hole that continues to haunt Qohen throughout the film.
2. Drive (2011)
'Drive'Credit: Wild Side Films, Film District, Le Pacte
Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive follows a Hollywood stuntman by day and getaway driver by night. He gets into serious trouble after a simple pawn shop heist goes awry.
The stark contrast between naturalistic daylight lighting and the neon-drenched city at night is one of the movie's visual highlights. The neon-lit hero car, the reflections of neon signage and lights on skyscrapers, and the saturated colors of the night make Drive an important inclusion in this list, for sure.
3. Lost River (2015)
'Lost River'Credit: Warner Bros.
Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, features some of the most excellent use of neon lights and colors. The narrative follows a single mother and her teenage son as they discover a secret underwater town and end up in a dark underworld.
Cinematographer Benoît Debie not only incorporated neon through the lights but also through the world around the mother-son duo. From highly saturated color grading to blingy neon-graffiti walls and neon cityscapes, Lost River has it all, but it never feels excessive.
Honestly, Lost River’s neon treatment has influenced a lot of music videos since!
4. Blood Simple (1984)
'Blood Simple'Credit: Warner Bros.
The Coen brothers’ Blood Simple uses neon lights to externalize the grief, sorrow, and rage of a man, the owner of a small-town Texas bar, who discovers that his wife is having an affair.
The neon highlights, saturated chiaroscuro lighting, against the Texas town, and the rugged, rude Julian Marty’s bar, add a lot of grime to this story of a lover’s revenge. From the headlights of the cars to the illuminated windows that paint the cityscape to the neon signage, the Coen brothers show us how to use neon lighting with true commitment and artistry.
5. 2046 (2004)
'2046'Credit: Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Classic, Mei Ah Entertainment, Seville Pictures, Palisades Tartan
Wong Kar-Wai’s 2046, the sci-fi sequel of In the Mood for Love, doesn’t use neon lights to represent dystopia. The filmmaker creates a romanticized yet melancholic space in a narrative where a man battles his memories of his one true love as he desperately tries to move on.
As we step into Chow Mo-wan’s sci-fi novel (the one he’s struggling to finish), we follow the protagonist traveling to a mysterious destination in 2046 to reclaim his lost memories of love. His quest is nothing short of Chow’s quest for closure.
Wong Kar-Wai’s mysterious city in 2046 was entirely computer-generated under the supervision of BUF Compagnie, the French digital studio, which freely experimented with the look and feel of the cityscape. The creation, revision, and amalgamation of different looks and city styles continued for three whole years, until Wai was finally happy.
This was also Wai’s first attempt at visual effects, but with visuals like that, there’s simply no way to tell!
6. The John Wick series
'John Wick'Credit: Lionsgate
John Wick’s neon world screams danger through the sophisticated color contrast and practical neon lighting. This saga of a deadly assassin who’s out to avenge his pet dog relies on complementary colors in neon shades, such as blue against orange or magenta, or green against yellow, that not only enhance the visual intensity of the action sequences but also externalize Wick’s rage and the monumentality of each conflict.
7. Akira (1988)
'Akira'Credit: Toho, Streamline Pictures, 20th Century Fox
Katsuhiro Otomo’s animated classic, Akira, externalizes the pulse of the colorful city of a dystopian Tokyo in 2019 through neon lighting. The narrative is set in Neo-Tokyo and follows a teenage biker gang member who turns into a psychic psychopath and begins to unleash horror on the city after getting involved in a secret military mission. The only one who can stop him is his best friend.
Akira features some of the finest animation, with high frame rates that allow extremely smooth movement. The contrast, saturated visuals, and use of neons, from lights to signage, make Akira a pioneer in cyberpunk aesthetics.
8. Thief (1981)
'Thief'Credit: United Artists
Michael Mann’s Thief is a gritty narrative following a professional safecracker, whose professional involvement with a powerful mobster leads to dire consequences.
The use of neon lighting in Thief is not as blaring as the rest of the movies in the list. In fact, Mann uses neon lights as highlights that subtly underscore the story's intensity, thrill, and chaos.
9. Suspiria (1977)
'Suspiria'Credit: Toho Towa
Dario Argento’s Suspiria follows a young American ballerina who joins a prestigious dance company in Berlin, only to realize that it’s actually a den of witches, after one of the ex-students is mysteriously killed soon after expulsion.
Suspiria uses neon lighting to build pure psychological terror. The primary palette is limited to vibrant colors such as reds, purples, and cool blues, arranged in complementary color combinations to intensify visual impact and sustain tension and mystery.
10. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
'Ghost in the Shell'Credit: Paramount Pictures
Another notable cyberpunk anime, Ghost in the Shell, directed by Mamoru Oshii, uses neon lighting to visually immerse us in a digitally layered society.
The narrative follows a cyborg policewoman, Motoko Kusanagi, and her partner as they try to hunt down a powerful hacker.
Momoshiki’s interpretation of a futuristic Tokyo is neon-colored to the point of sensory overload, creating visual chaos that mirrors Major Motoko Kusanagi’s fragmented consciousness as she navigates between human and cyborg identities.
11. Blade Runner (1982)
'Blade Runner'Credit: Warner Bros.
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is often considered a masterpiece of neon lighting, which helped create a template for neo-noirs and cyberpunk movies to follow.
Interestingly, the real credit for the neon-lit, gritty, and rain-soaked look and feel of Blade Runner goes to budget constraints. The movie features high-contrast dramatic backlighting (essential to draw attention away from the half-finished sets), with practical neon sources that effectively highlight the decaying society.
Blade Runner established neon as the visual language of contemporary alienation and futurism.
Which are your favorite movies in the list?
