Benicio Del Toro delivers his best performance since “Sicario” in “Reptile,” Netflix’s new crime thriller.
What is it about ?
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective tries to lift the veil on a seemingly deceptive affair, and loses his own illusions.
Reptile, a film written by Grant Singer, Benjamin Brewer and Benicio del Toro, directed by Grant Singer with Benicio del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Silverstone…
Who is it with?
For his first feature film, Grant Singer – director of music videos for The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Lorde and Sam Smith – has a five-star cast. He entrusts the role of investigator Tom Nichols to Benecio Del Toro who also participated in writing the screenplay. The latter finds Alicia Silverstone who plays his wife Judy, 26 years after their collaboration on Excess Baggage.
Facing them, Justin Timberlake plays Will Grady, the victim’s boyfriend. But we also find Michael Pitt (restricted to playing unclear types), Karl Glusman and the singer and actress Sky Ferreira.
Daniel McFadden/Netflix ©2023
It’s worth checking out ?
A true atmospheric thriller – seriously eyeing True Detective – Reptile exudes a disturbing and obsessive style with the aim of grabbing the viewer, the better to trap them and make them uncomfortable. The whole point of the film is to explore the human psyche and dissect how “good people” manage to create a gray area in their morality to relieve themselves of the guilt of having done wrong.
The story follows Tom Nichols, a once-famous Philadelphia detective who takes a new job in a small town in the South. It was his wife, Judy, who got him the job through her uncle Robert Allen (Eric Bogosian) after a scandal on the east coast forced them to flee. This decision pays off when Nichols is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a local real estate agent.
Her name was Summer (Matilda Lutz), and although he was still married but separated, she was dating a wealthy real estate mogul, Will Grady. It was he who discovered her body, stabbed with stab wounds, in a house they were preparing to put on the market. She was stabbed so brutally that the knife became lodged in her pelvis.
But Nichols is not alone on the matter. He investigates in duo with his teammate Dan CLeary (Ato Essandoh). But involved in the affair is another colleague, Wally (Dominick Lombardozzi), who carries out other activities outside the police, and Eli Phillips (Michael Pitt) who has a grudge against the Grady family.
Daniel McFadden/Netflix ©2023
A familiar aesthetic
Clipper to the stars, Grant Singer did not choose the simplest genre for his reconversion as a fiction director. Even if we guess that he has not yet found his own style by borrowing a lot from other great directors (David Fincher first, but also David Lynch and even Hitchcock), he succeeds in creating tension with a simple climbing stairs or with a dark silhouette trapping its prey. His art of symmetry, minimalist and refined, reinforces the sinister character that surrounds the characters.
The title of the film refers to the cold nature of people. In the first minutes, Summer finds snake skin after shedding. A metaphor then for how some people can shed their cover, revealing their cruel nature.
But the film is especially worth it for Benicio Del Toro’s flawless performance. He also made his debut there as a co-writer. This is obvious and makes perfect sense since Tom Nichols’ character plays to all of Benicio Del Toro’s greatest strengths as an actor. Which results in perhaps his most convincing performance since Sicario.
It’s obvious that he has all the tools to convey the dark and cunning nature of his character, but he’s also incredibly good in the film’s few moments of dark humor. This is exactly the kind of role we like to see him in.