Themes

Heists

Double Indemnity (Murder-for-Profit)

Frame-Ups (False Accusations)

Wrong Man on the Run

Love Triangles

Blackmail

Cover-Ups

Detective Investigations

Inside Jobs

Bank Robberies

Small-Time Crooks and Big Syndicates

Unsolved Murders

Betrayal by a Lover or Partner

Fall from Grace

Crime of Passion

Revenge Gone Wrong

Downward Spirals

Amnesia and Lost Identity

Post-War Trauma and Disillusionment

Foreign Film Noir

Motifs

Fatalism

Existential dread

Moral ambiguity

Corruption

Betrayal

Alienation

Obsession

Identity crisis

Revenge

Cynicism

Paranoia

Greed

Guilt

Redemption (often failed)

Double crosses

Psychological tension

Crime and punishment

Characters

Hardboiled detective

Femme fatale

Anti-hero

Crooked cop

Grifter

Private eye

Double-crosser

Down-on-his-luck man

Innocent on the run

Vengeful widow

Corrupt official

Drifter

Ruthless gangster

World-weary narrator

Doomed protagonists

Common Settings

Seedy nightclubs

Run-down apartments

Back alleys

Smoky offices

Isolated motels

Train stations

Gambling dens

Courtrooms

Docks and warehouses

Neon-lit streets