A Most Violent Year is a 2014 crime drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor, who also co-produced with Neal Dodson and Anna Gerb.

It stars Oscar Isaac as a fuel supplier who tries to adhere to his own moral compass amid the rampant violence, corruption and decay that threaten his family and business.

Morales and his company are under investigation by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence, who seems determined to expose price fixing, tax evasion, and various other illegalities in the heating oil business.

Morales's attorney, Andrew Walsh, brokers a deal with a group of Hasidic Jews headed by Joseph Mendelsohn to purchase a fuel oil terminal on the East River for $2.5 million.

Morales gets a loan from competitors Saul and Lorraine Lefkowitz in exchange for partial use of the terminal, but it won't cover the entire purchase.

Dismayed, Morales tells Anna about Peter's terms and she confesses that she has been skimming from the company for years, storing the money in a secret account.

Lawrence agrees in general terms and suggests that the new oil terminal will develop Morales's business and give him "political influence."

[8] Other cast members include Ashley Williams, Elyes Gabel, Harris Yulin, Giselle Eisenberg, and Elizabeth Marvel.

[11] On February 21, 2014, Alessandro Nivola was cast to play Peter Forente, a heating oil distributor who is a competitor to Isaac's character.

[16] Influenced musically by the culture and life of the 1980s, specifically thinking of Miami Vice and Scarface, Ebert predominantly utilized synthesizers.

[21] A Most Violent Year received critical acclaim, with many comparing Chandor's style in this film favorably to the works of Sidney Lumet,[22] and praise given to the performances of Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.

The website's consensus reads: "Gritty, gripping, and weighted with thought-provoking heft, A Most Violent Year represents another strong entry in writer-director J.C. Chandor's impressive filmography.

"[25] Variety's Scott Foundas compared it to Chandor's previous film saying the movie is "a tough, gritty, richly atmospheric thriller that lacks some of the formal razzle-dazzle of his solo seafaring epic, All Is Lost, but makes up for it with an impressively sustained low-boil tension and the skillful navigating of a complex plot.