Al Pacino’s brilliant underrated thriller movie is on TV tonight

Bizarrely, the film does not seem available to rent or stream, so now is the time to watch it.

A remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, the story follows Will Dormer ('dormir' being the Spanish for 'sleep'), a veteran Los Angeles police detective facing an intensifying Internal Affairs investigation.

To get him and his cop partner Hap (Donovan) out of the city during the IA probe, the pair are sent to the town of Nightmute, Alaska. This is so that they can help with a local murder case where a teenage girl was the victim.

Upon arriving in the snowy surroundings, where the sun never goes down, Dormer quickly finds himself psychologically unravelling due to lack of sleep and stress over the IA investigation.

Amidst this, he finds himself drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with the culprit of the killing.

A noir set in place without night, Insomnia was a hit at the box office and with critics. In particular, its unique setting, its fantastic performances (particularly by Pacino and Williams), and its twisty exploration of morality were singled out for praise.

Plus, watching the movie in 2026, in an era of overstretched murder-mystery TV shows, a glossy Hollywood movie in the same vein that tells a fully fleshed-out story in less than two hours feels like a minor miracle.

In an interview for The Nolan Variations, Tom Shone's book about the filmmaker, Christopher Nolan said of Insomnia: "I’m very proud of the film. I think, of all my films, it’s probably the most underrated.

"The reality is it’s one of my most personal films in terms of what it was to make it. It was a very vivid time in my life. It was my first studio film; I was on location, it was the first time I’d worked with huge movie stars.

"Every now and again I meet a filmmaker, and that’s actually the film that they’re interested in or want to talk about. Yeah, very proud of the film.”

Insomnia is airing on TV tonight on BBC Two at 11.05pm. Bizarrely, the movie does not seem available to rent or stream in Ireland, so now is the time to watch it.

For JOE's list of the other films on TV tonight, click here.