Analyzing Evil: Lou Bloom From Nightcrawler

Welcome everyone to the thirty-second episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature villain for this video is Lou Bloom from Nightcrawler. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

The song in this video Beneath The Ice Water, was provided by CO.AG Music. You can find more of their work here:

#JakeGyllenhaal #LouBloom #Nightcrawler

[jujijiju]

"An alien who learnt to be human by watching corporate training videos", Wow, excellent writing!

[nolovedrjones]

His last line stuck with me, its when he's talking to his new crew at the end.

"Remember, I will never ask you to do something that I wouldn't do myself"

[regzzuse]

"I would never ask you to do anything, I wouldn´t do myself."
-Lou Bloom
At first it sounds like very generous, upliftiing words coming from your boss, until you realize he is a psychopath.

[peter-paulkutschlojenga]

Imagine being friends with Jake Gyllenhaal in real life. You'll just never know if he's a genuine fun guy to be around or the biggest sociopath alive who has mastered human interaction. This man can act.

[franklinmunkelwitz]

My favorite part of this film is how Lou's eyes are constantly staring, not looking, but staring. Everytime he blinks is like he's trying to convince the audience that he's normal/human

[oscarmaidana]

Jake´s eyes are a big part of his acting, more so than his complete aprearance. Here in Nightcrawler and in Prisoners, his eyes alone tell a deep and oceans apart diferent history from each role.

[stephanwatson]

He does the sociopathic stare, very well. The eyes are just slightly wider than normal. As if the sociopath is trying to absorb as much information, about the person they're studying, as possible

[Fontaneish]

One thing I noticed too is that when he first introduces himself to Rick, he calls himself Louis and is sure to correct Rick when he calls him "Lou". As the film goes on, he starts to call and introduce himself as Lou as he learns it is more personable when interacting with people to use the more informal version of his name. Maybe I'm overthinking it though.

[aidanlynn]

Lou’s first line of dialogue,

“I’m lost”. Tells us everything we need to know with two words.

[NiirTheRaccoon]

I still am in shock from his souless, inhuman actions towards the guy he was working with for all that time. The dead, unreactive gaze from him as he films the last moments of the man who he has intentionally ushered unto Death, with such a lack of care about what he has done, only focused on the footage and the job...truly disturbing to watch. That scene caught me off guard so much. That was the moment I realised that Lou is not even really human. He is just the manifestation of desire and will, of a human predator, living only to further his own purpose, with zero regard for anyone other than himself. Your analysis is spot on pretty much.

[benwasserman]

The fact that Lou finds true success in his profession is easily the most unnerving part about this whole film.

[mageIIan]

Lou is what Patrick Bateman wouldve been had he not been born into wealth and been inundated with the ongoings of the corporate world.

[erikgarcia-ky]

Something i noticed about Louis, or “Lou”, is even though he lacks social skills, he understands negotiating and bargaining proving how narcissistic he is and how he only believes in fending for himself.

[PencilSticks]

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Oscar snub was absolutely criminal. His performance here is easily among the best in cinematic history.

[theuntitledpodcast]

This is one of Jake's best movies just for his acting alone. Legitimately lost myself in Lou Bloom and forgot it was an actor as I watched the movie

[InferiorGamer]

It's almost as if he's been alone most of his life, watched tons of content on the internet, observed/developed an idea on how people interact, and this movie is him starting to employ those ideas.

[FlemingoFilmProductions]

At first I found the music selection for some gruesome scenes to be odd considering what other movies have used, but then I realized it was all from Lou’s perspective. It made me truly realize that he doesn’t think like or register things like a human.

[jamesburk]

"Unperson" is such a good way to describe him. As the film goes on we slowly get to see and learn exactly how empty he is, and that there is nothing inside of him. Initially it seems like he was maybe just an awkward, misguided guy but we learn that he's actually a dangerously unstable and deadly precise machine more than a person.

[ruthWICKED]

Nightcrawler is a modern day masterpiece. Not a day goes by without me wondering why Jake was snubbed for this masterful performance. Truly gifted and hardworking actor.

[booba]

One of the things I love about this movie is that the sociopathic villain wins in the end. It's what happens in real life, unfortunately