Film editor Dede Allen’s second-to-last project with longtime collaborator Arthur Penn is a ruthless neo-noir that critiques youth culture, old money, the film industry, international art cinema, and American greed—all in under 100 minutes. Los Angeles-based private detective Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) is hired to track a runaway daughter (Melanie Griffith in her first major film role) to Florida, where she’s living an uneasy life with her parasitic stepfather (John Crawford). 

Initially a commercial flop, NIGHT MOVES found popularity with its 1990s home video release and has since received critical reappraisal for Hackman’s performance and the film’s off-kilter narrative arc.