November Criminals (2017)

November Criminals is at its best as a moody, street-level D.C. noir seen through the eyes of a smart, grieving kid who can’t stop picking at a wound until it bleeds truth. Sacha Gervasi gives the film a chilly, late-night vibe—part coming-of-age ache, part amateur-sleuth thriller—while Ansel Elgort and Chloë Grace Moretz supply the spark that keeps it moving, their chemistry turning every conversation into a small gamble. The mystery pulls you forward less with flashy twists than with a creeping sense of consequence, as curiosity hardens into obsession and the city’s corners feel sharper by the scene. It won’t satisfy viewers craving a tight, puzzle-box whodunit, but if you like character-driven crime stories with emotional weight and a restless pulse, this one is easy to lean into.

November Criminals clearly wants to be a moody, teen-noir mystery about grief, privilege, and a kid stubbornly chasing justice when adults won’t. The problem is it often feels like it’s going through the motions: the investigation hits familiar beats, the tension rarely builds, and the social commentary around race and crime can come off clumsy rather than insightful. Ansel Elgort and Chloë Grace Moretz bring some sincerity, and the D.C. setting has a chilly atmosphere, but the film doesn’t give them enough sharp material to make the story land. If you’re hoping for a gripping thriller or a genuinely twisty whodunit, you may leave bored; if you’re okay with a slow, somber character piece that only lightly commits to its mystery, it might be passable.