Cruising

Cruising (1980) is William Friedkin's crime thriller, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A young New York cop goes undercover to catch a killer, and the job starts to reshape who he is.

A murderer is stalking Manhattan's late-night gay bars, picking victims from the city's leather and S&M scene. Detective Steve Burns (Al Pacino) fits the killer's type, so his superiors plant him deep inside that closed world. The longer Steve plays the part, the blurrier the line gets between the role and the man underneath. The killer is close, the answer keeps slipping away, and Burns loses his footing.

Friedkin adapted Gerald Walker's novel, and the film drew protests and outrage on release. These days it gets revisited as a grim snapshot of late-1970s New York and one of Pacino's most unsettling performances. The cast also features Paul Sorvino and Karen Allen. Stream Cruising (1980) online on iFILM.