It's Film Noir, Baby

Film noir might sound fancy, but it has a very dark meaning... literally. It means "black film" and this can be easily seen throughout Double Indemnity. Simply the coloring of the film is dark as it is black and white, with an emphasis on black. Much of the movie occurs at night which makes a majority of the film dark. The events that happen at night are often crimes. For instance, at the end of the movie, Phyllis is killed by Walter at 11 pm. Not only does much of the film occur at night, but it is even raining in some scenes. Rain is often seen as depressing, giving the movie a depressing tone. The music used throughout the movie is ominous and gives the audience an idea that the movie will not have a joyful mood. The narration sounds as if a man is confessing to a murder, which he is. This narration causes the movie to be much darker in tone,especially because of Walter's tone of voice.

The characters in Double Indemnity present a lot of darkness in that they do not seem to hold many morals. Phyllis is only out to get life insurance money through her husband's death the entire movie, revealing her decision that money matters more than human life. Phyllis uses Walter in order to kill her husband and then shoots Walter later on. The motive behind Mr. Dietrichson's death being money makes it even more sinister. Walter, although not being presented as a villain, is no hero either. After meeting Phyllis, he decides to help her kill her husband even though he knows her motive. His character is dark as well and does not do anything to combat Phyllis' murderous ideas. In fact, after a while, he encourages them. 

The plot only darkens the movie as it's full of death and deception. Phyllis attempts to trick Walter when she first meets him. While Walter does not fall for the deception, he does agree to help Phyllis. It is later revealed that Phyllis is still deceiving Walter at this point as she has convinced him that she loves him, when she actually does not. Once the murder of Mr. Dietrichson has been committed, Walter starts having to hide his involvement from the insurance company he works for. Phyllis and Walter start having to meet in secret in stores because it cannot be revealed that they have a relationship. The movie ends with Phyllis shooting, but not killing Walter, and Walter killing Phyllis. We then see Walter recording the tape that we have been listening to the entire movie. Once Walter is discovered by Keyes, he tries to escape. He ends up not able to leave and collapses at the door. This inability to run away gives a depressing end to the movie because the main character is unable to accomplish their goal, even though the goal was dark.