The Grifters (1990): Film Noir UK

Adapted for the screen by Donald E. Westlake, from the 1963 novel by Jim Thompson, The Grifters features a stellar cast, including John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening and J. T. Walsh.

When small-time cheat Roy Dillon (Cusack) winds up in hospital following an unsuccessful scam, it sets up a confrontation between his estranged mother Lilly (Huston) and alluring girlfriend Myra (Bening). Both Lilly and Myra are con artists playing the game in a league far above Roy, and always looking for their next victim. As Roy finds himself caught in a complicated web of passion and mistrust, the question is – who's conning who?

Director Stephen Frears teams up with producer Martin Scorsese to bring one of Jim Thompson’s LA noir classics to the big screen with perfect cinematography by Oliver Stapleton and music by Elmer Bernstein.