Well if it makes you feel better, its unlikely that Lou will continue to get away with things for that much longer. He took a ton of risks in the short time that we saw him. He is going to keep escalating that until he gets killed or gets caught.
The police are already onto him. They may end up finding evidence to put him away for the things we saw him do. We saw enough to know that he didnt get caught immediately after the events of that car chase, but who knows what will happen later on?

Not all movies end with a
"Happily ever after"
lol

This is not a disney movie. In real life, people who use people, look mainly for their own interests, know how to play the game and how to "behabe properly", as fake as needed, in any given situation, use to have more possibilities for economical growth, more specially when media is involved in the equation.
If he's the right monster for the job, the news and what people watches with more interest on them, are doctor frankenstein.
Isn't advertising mostly fake fantasies, and big part making people feel bad about theirselves?
S
pain

that was the whole point of this film I felt that way too. which is what made it so good.. I think the writer and director (not sure it was the same person) set out to make us feel like we should take a shower after watching this
Sadly we live in a world where this type of behaviour exists and for sure in LA
the only way Lou getting his comeuppance would have worked is if a new Nightcrawler was there to film it
the whole point is that this seedy lifestyle goes on and on and on
Jake's performance was also mega creepy

In a way it was a happy ending for the bad guy. "An insane person, doesn't KNOW they're insane". Just how a bad guy doesn't know they're bad. It's why an "Evil laugh" always appears corny and fake. This was the "happy ending" of a man very determined to get to the top. He's the main character, had he doe, it wouldn't be a happy ending. That's what's cool about movies, you can root for the bad guy. Your sense in morality doesn't changes, it's a movie doing what it's suppose to do

"What's the opposite of catharsis? Because that's what I've just been subjected to."
Angst

What's the opposite of catharsis?
Anti-catharsis?

Real life is deliciously evil and unforgiving.

How is Lou a bad guy?
-Hurting the security guard at the start of the film
-Stealing watch from security guard
-Stealing a bike
-Stealing cable tv from neighbors
-Cutting brakes on competitors van
-Breaking into house where crime occurred(the one where he messed with the fridge magnets)
-Breaking speed limits and driving recklessly
-Moving bodies at car crash scene
-implied sexual abuse against Nina and coercing her into things
-no respect for privacy of others in vulnerable situations (guy bleeding out in street and dying)
-Not helping the guy in the rich murder house who was still alive
-Withholding information from police
-Setting up the capture of the criminals in a dangerous situation just to cause more dramatic footage
-Putting Rick in danger of getting shot

I find this movie somewhat disturbing too.

How is Lou a bad guy? He didn't have the obligation to report what he saw to the police, that's his story. He just saw a good opportunity in it. About his partner, he threatened him and tried to take half of Lou's share. They were by no means friends, he didn't have to save him, he's not responsible of his partner's death in any way.

Watch The Last Seduction, with Linda Fiorentino.

Exactly. I think the intention of the movie was to give this message, because that's how the media works. Corruption, ambition and bribery rules the world and why should they have made a happy ending and punish the "bad guy", when nothing is being made against those hypocrites in real life..?

I think I've seen alot of movies like that (were the bad guy completely wins)
But sometimes bad guys do.
Don't they..?

I pretty much spent the whole time hoping that nothing bad would happen to Rick Garcia's character
Only people with money say that money doesn't matter.

Lou was a psychopath, not a sociopath.
Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

Yes, from the larger perspective it shows the moral decay of society.
It shows just how sociopaths manipulate and how they lack empathy and ethics and only serve their own selfish goals (i.e. Lou). Even worse, it shows how that behaviour is condoned and encouraged by others who have a common goal yet have just enough ethics to not do the things the sociopath is doing yet not enough ethics to try to stop it when it benefits them (i.e. Nina).
I agree, this film definitely leaves a bad taste. The thing that got me through the film is that I was waiting to see how Lou would get his comeuppance, but unfortunately that didn't materialize.

I highly enjoyed the ending it was well written I felt. Yes it did make you angry but that's what's so amazing. A motion picture can make you feel so much and I find that astounding.

There are many times in life where the bad guy goes away with it, so we need those movies as well, not everything has to be Disney-like and sweet with a cherry on top.

Why does the justice have to be poetic? In The Departed, every corrupt character died. Granted, most every uncorrupted character died too,
but Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson, serving as the antagonists, died, and were brought to justice, Nicholson by Damon, and Damon by Marky Mark. Everyone who deserved it, got it.
All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain

This message has been deleted.

It disturbed my soul as well. For me, it's because it didn't end the way that I, as a justice-loving person, thought it should end.
As someone who lived in L.A. for many years AND work in a TV station for a short period of time, I loved looking at the West Coast scenery. The familiarly with how news stations choose stories both appalled and fascinated me. This film was like a luxury car wreck and I couldn't look away.
I was loving this movie until the last 10 minutes. That's when I realized I'd have to relegate it to the list with "The Departed," "Matchpoint," "The Player," and "Crime and Misdemeanors." These are movies I ended up hating because the endings contained no (poetic) justice.
As Lou was crossing the street after leaving the police station, I wanted SO BADLY for him to be struck and killed by a car. I really needed that to happen to be satisfied with this movie. But there's no ambiguity about what happened to Lou - at least not for me. HE GOT AWAY WITH IT - and that sucks.

Your comments remind me of my reaction to "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", where the two main characters Neal (Steve Martin) and Del (John Candy) do some incredibly stupid things, and have some very bad things happen to them, while the various "crooks" have all the fun.
But as far as "Nightcrawler" goes, while it is left up to the imagination of each viewer, in my own mind Lou will get his due, he will pay for all his evil deeds, we just don't know when and how.
.... TxMike ....
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.