Dark City is a science fiction noir movie that fuses a detective story and an alien experiment. Directed by Alex Proyas (from The Crow, I, Robot and Knowing) and written by Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David Goyer it is a dark vision reminiscent of Blade Runner. The story is a psychological thriller that questions the nature of reality with a 1940 noir backdrop and an alien race orchestrating it all.

John Murdoch wakes up in a bath in a hotel room with no memories and a drop of blood on his forehead. As he investigates the room, he finds a dropped syringe, a suitcase of clothes and a dead hooker. He gets a phone call telling him to leave because people are coming for him. As he makes his way out of the hotek, everyone he sees is sleeping where they lay. And then they all wake up. Murdoch goes off in search of his life.

But he has no life, his life is nothing but a pictures and documents that tell of a life he can’t remember.  His wife is a torch singer who had an affair (which is why he was staying at the hotel) wants forgiveness, but he can’t remember anything. And there are two people chasing him. Detective Bumstead took over a case of prostitute killings, which has Murdoch as the lead suspect, from Detective Walenski who has gone crazy. Walenski saw something that drove him over the edge and is reduced to drawing spirals and doubting reality. The other person is Docter Daniel Schreber (wonderfully named after the real Daniel Schreber) a psychiatrist who is helping the aliens, but only because he has to. Dr. Schreber wants to help Murdoch defeat the aliens, but is struggling to get Murdoch to trust him.

The aliens can reconfigure reality and control things with their mind, a process called tuning. And somehow Murdoch has gained the power to tune. The aliens put everyone to sleep and reconfigure the city every night at midnight (it’s not really fair to say every night, because there is no day) and change the buildings, trains and people in them in an attempt to understand the human soul. They believe this knowledge will help them save their race.

As Murdoch gets closer to the truth the wife and the detective must decide if they believe Murdoch and help him. The doctor wants to help Murdoch, but doesn’t want the aliens to know. And the aliens want to capture and learn from Murdoch. The struggle is the crux of the movie.

But the visuals are amazing. Proyas has created a city that can simultaneously be a 40’s noir backdrop and a science fiction futuristic city. The buildings (the whole city in fact) can rearrange itself into new configurations. The lighting and art look like they came out of Blade Runner. This movie is truly and unsung masterpiece and should be viewed by all.