Overlooked Neo-Noir Film Nails Being Both a Bank Heist and a Murder Mystery

We have certain expectations from different genres. Crime movies are rather versatile, leaning either into serious drama/thriller territory or comedy, and yet, there are rules here. A bank heist film is often more humorous, whereas a murder mystery tends to have those Agatha Christie vibes and be an intellectual challenge for its audience. But sometimes, these rules are deliberately thrown out of the window.

Welcome to Shimmer Lake, Enjoy the Pursuit

Directed and written by Oren Uziel, 2017’s Shimmer Lake doesn’t choose between the two popular crime movie subgenres: it decides to be both at the same time. When your average bank heist in a small town goes wrong, three unfortunate robbers need to lay low as the local Sheriff is desperately trying to catch up to them.

Understaffed and lacking actual resources, the detectives can barely put two and two together despite the Sheriff being one of the robbers’ brother. To make matters worse, the local judge is found dead, and that’s where a murder mystery joins the familiar ensemble of a “heist gone wrong” movie. Mistakes and mishaps pile up, turning Shimmer Lake into a unique comedy of errors in a seemingly serious setting.

Shimmer Lake’s Time Games Went Underappreciated

If you thought that a failed bank heist, hopeless investigators, an unlikely familial connection, and a murder of a judge were enough for one movie, you were wrong.

Shimmer Lake adds another layer of fun for its audience: it’s a retrospective film, and it tells its four-day-long story starting from the finale. The main mystery is not how this chain of events ends but how did everything get so messed up in the first place.

Despite its distinct approach and interesting ideas, Shimmer Lake didn’t get the recognition it deserved. On Rotten Tomatoes, only 10 critics rated the movie, resulting in a measly 60% Tomatometer Score, though it did reasonably better on IMDb with a 6.3/10 points. All we’re saying is that this movie deserves more love.

If the premise intrigued you, we convinced you, or you’re willing to give this mind-bending crime comedy a go, you can watch Shimmer Lake on Netflix.