Based on the book by Jim Foley, “After Dark, My Sweet” is another superb neo-noir film. Set in the sunlit city of Palm Springs, California, the movie’s cast includes Jason Patric, Rachel Ward, and Bruce Dern. While the film may possibly have a Femme Fatale, it does not include nocturnal scenes, and its plot unfolds under the sunlit skies of the Colorado Desert in California’s Coachella Valley.

A drifter, Kevin “Kid” Collins (Jason Patric), on the lam, who has escaped from a mental hospital, is seen making his way on foot in the hot California sun near the city of Palm Springs. The Kid is not normal. It is obvious that he suffers from some kind of PTSD. His walking style almost resembles that of a boxer in a ring. Flashbacks reveal that the Kid is indeed a former boxer.

He visits a bar, empty but for the bartender, and orders himself a beer while attempting to make small talk. The bartender is uninterested. A mysterious woman (Rachel Ward) then enters the bar and seats herself on an adjacent stool.

She too is not interested in talking to Kevin and mocks him when he continues to attempt conversation. The bartender then pulls away Kevin’s beer and demands that he leave. In response, Kevin knocks him out with a single punch.

As the drifter continues to walk, to his surprise, the woman from the bar stops her car next to him, introduces herself as Mrs. Fay Anderson, and asks Kevin to accompany her home. She is a widow who lives by herself in the town. She tells him that she would like him to stay in the house, manage her palm trees, and do odd jobs for her. A trailer at the back of her home will be his lodging, she tells him.

That evening, she takes Kevin to a Mexican bar and introduces him to “Uncle Budd,” a shady old man. Uncle Budd immediately proposes a “lucrative” idea for Kevin. Kevin is to help Budd kidnap the young son of a rich man in the town and demand a ransom. Kevin is torn between his feelings for Fay and his fear of getting mixed up with Uncle Budd’s dangerous plan. He is also not sure if he is being played by Fay.

At first, he wisely listens to his intuition and leaves Fay’s residence. He travels to another nearby place on the back of a truck. Here, while at a restaurant, he meets Doc Goldman (George Dickerson), who immediately pegs Kevin as someone who escaped from a medical facility. Goldman offers Kevin a room in his clinic and proposes that Kevin should stay at the clinic as a helper. Maybe Goldman has other plans for Kevin too.

Soon, Kevin’s feelings for Fay take over. He leaves Goldman’s care and returns to Fay’s house. After getting intimate with Fay, he agrees to participate in Uncle Budd’s dangerous “quick money” scheme. While he does not trust Budd and thinks that the latter may double-cross him at some stage, he is unsure if Fay is also secretly conspiring with Budd. Nevertheless, he agrees to work with the two enigmatic individuals. Any fan of noir movies knows that things are not going to end well for Kevin. The plot has a number of surprises and revelations from this point on before its unexpected end.

Patric plays the former boxer, Kevin, to perfection. His body language and acting performance give credibility to the role. Rachel Ward, too, is great as the alcoholic widow, Fay. Does she have feelings for Kevin, or is she the archetype Femme Fatale planning to play him for a patsy? Bruce Dern too puts in a decent performance as the shady Uncle Budd.

“After Dark, My Sweet” has been hailed by many critics like Roger Ebert as among the best of movies, and for good reason. While it ends in classic noir fashion, the film packs quite a few surprises and is well worth a watch.