Death Note is a 2017 American neo-noir supernatural horror-thriller film loosely adapted from the Japanese manga of the same namecreated by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The film is directed by Adam Wingard and written by Charles Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides and Jeremy Slater. The film stars Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whigham, Paul Nakauchi, Jason Liles and Willem Dafoe, and follows the story of an American high school student named Light Turner, who finds a mysterious supernatural notebook known as the "Death Note". After being visited by a demonic Japanese god of death named Ryuk, who tells him that the book causes the death of anyone whose name is written within its pages, Light eventually begins to kill people whom he deems to be unworthy of life, under the alias of a serial-killer named "Kira", in a bid to change the world into a utopian society without crime.
The film was released on Netflix on August 25, 2017. Upon release, Death Note received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Much of the criticism was directed towards the incoherent writing, pacing, numerous changes from the source material as well as omissions of many of its crucial elements; however, critics praised Wingard's direction, the production design, soundtrack, cinematography and the cast, with Dafoe and Stanfield's performances as Ryuk and L receiving most of the praise.
