Hard Light Cinema at UR: Blow Out

Blow Out

Director: Brian De Palma
1981, 108 minutes

Join the Film Studies Program for a film screening in partnership with Hard Light Cinema. 

He inadvertently recorded an accident. What he uncovered was something far more dangerous. Brian De Palma's gripping neo-noir turns a single recording into a race against conspiracy and time. Blow Out wears its 70s influences on its sleeves as it balances the grimy streets of a neo-noir, the frantic anxiety of a conspiracy thriller, and the pulpy sensationalism and lighting of an Italian giallo film. De Palma, an all-time image-maker in his creative cinematography and colorful lighting, blends his iconic split diopter shots with an all-time sound design performance to create the ultimate thriller. Containing a plot echoing the JFK assassination and Watergate scandal and with an incredibly memorable ending, this film ought not be missed by film fans. Come and hear “a good scream” on the big screen this October!

Hard Light Cinema is a Richmond collective of cinephiles bringing arthouse and non-mainstream films typically unavailable in standard movie theaters to central Virginia’s young professionals. The collaboration with the Film Studies Program at the University of Richmond aims to connect UR      students with Richmond city film fans. The fall 2027 Hard Light at UR series showcases film noir and neo-noir.

Upcoming Hard Light at UR Events

November 19, 2026
Minority Report
Director: Steven Spielberg
2002, 145 minutes

December 3, 2026
Decision to Leave
Director: Park Chan-Wook
2022, 138 minutes