

A cop clashes with his priest brother while investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
Acting
De Niro and Duvall's simmering sibling warfare.
Production
1940s LA recreated with obsessive, sweat-stained detail.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes politeness and piety.

Director
Ulu Grosbard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
De Niro and Duvall spent weeks together building backstory as brothers, then deliberately avoided each other on set to manufacture authentic estrangement.
The film adapts John Gregory Dunne's novel inspired by the real 1949 Black Dahlia murder and LA's corrupt Catholic power structure—Dunne's wife Joan Didion co-wrote the screenplay.