Following (1999)

Justly acclaimed on the festival circuit, this ultra low-budget crime thriller heralds a singular talent in its writer/ director/cinematographer Christopher Nolan. The premise has Hitchcockian echoes. A struggling young writer, Bill (Theobald), who randomly follows strangers around London, encounters compulsive burglar Cobb (Haw). The latter takes Bill under his wing and demonstrates his method - - the goal is less about financial gain than provoking a human response ("You take it away and show them what they had" is Cobb's rationale for his thefts). Bill is fascinated, but after robbing a flat with his new mentor, falls in love with its occupant, a beautiful blonde (Russell) who's connected to the criminal underworld...

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