Gently, the plaintive notes from Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning,” an odd option to open “Reptile,” a depressing crime-thriller, waft by way of forked scenes. The sequence begins with realtor couple Will (Justin Timberlake) and Summer season (Matilda Lutz) prepping a lavish property for a exhibiting. Then it splits to Will presenting to a convention as Summer season hangs in a locker room elsewhere at a health club. Newton’s tune stutters and stops, the image trying to type an early suspense from these mundane moments. Summer season will finally be murdered in a vacant property. And Will is the prime suspect.
And but, “Reptile,” the directorial characteristic from Grant Singer — a music video director identified for his collaborations with The Weeknd and Taylor Swift — isn’t actually about Summer season or Will. It issues Detective Tom Nichols (Benicio del Toro, a co-writer on the script). Sporting a jet-black pompadour and a suave leather-based jacket, he isn’t solely investigating Summer season’s loss of life, however the rot lurking inside his police division. Singer’s “Reptile,” distributed by Netflix, desires to be a David Fincher procedural with Steven Soderbergh’s paranoia, however it’s a merely fangless homage with out suspense, logic, or disgrace.
Set within the New England suburb of Scarborough, the movie, written by Benjamin Brewer, Singer, and del Toro, struggles early on to search out its footing. Principally as a result of it is a movie afraid to allow us to independently really feel; it opts for an overbearing rating and clunky cross-cutting to carry our hand by way of the early investigation led by Nichols. We transfer, uneasily, between scenes of Nichols questioning Will to slices of life from Nichols’ charming domesticity along with his spouse Judy (Alicia Silverstone). Lately the couple moved to this city to flee Philadelphia, the place Nichols was embroiled in a scandal involving his corrupt accomplice. Even in New England, nonetheless, Nichols stays tainted.
There isn’t a lot intrigue within the case itself. One in all Will’s vengeful, former prospects (Michael Pitt), Summer season’s ex-husband (Karl Glusman), and a shady belief involving Summer season’s actual property commissions are only a few of the leads. Nichols doesn’t take them severely, making it too straightforward for the viewer to disregard them too. The view contained in the precinct isn’t a lot better: Nichols’ captain (Eric Bogosian) is battling most cancers; Nichols’ accomplice (Ato Essandoh) is a typical finest bud; and one other colleague, Wally (Domenick Lombardozzi) is opening a non-public safety agency and desires Nichols to affix. The minimal drama accrued from each spheres of this detective’s life hinders the elongated 134-minute runtime. These interpersonal shortcomings, sadly, are the least of this movie’s issues.
There is no such thing as a sense of setting or place amid the manicured properties that dot this rich New England suburb. How main is the police presence? How huge is the city? Are there particular native haunts, folks, and methods of life we should always know? Singer solutions none of these questions dialectically or visually. As a substitute we swap from empty room to empty room within the empty homes that muddle a seemingly sturdy actual property market The realm is so indifferent from the narrative of the movie, you come to surprise if the foggy nights that shade these scenes are merely the outgrowth of a dream, awaiting the rug to pulled out from underneath.
It doesn’t assist how misguided the performances really feel. Timberlake is making an attempt his finest Ben Affleck in “Gone Woman” impression; providing not one of the psychological intrigue or earnest spirit that accompanied that much better efficiency. Silverstone’s innate coyness, sometimes a powerful device in her repertoire, is ill-fitting in a puzzling narrative compelled by tiny indicators, small hints, and ambiguous motives. She usually takes us off the movie’s path in a vogue that performs as unintentional. Nobody within the deep supporting solid distinguishes themselves both. They’re broad cliches: the heavy, the heel, the misbegotten buddy — utilized with little to no originality. Del Toro escapes unscathed, however barely. If solely as a result of he thrives enjoying oddballs and enigmas. A scene the place somebody asks him why they name him “Oklahoma” — “As a result of I can reduce a line,” del Toro says with a wink — is among the movie’s lone brilliant spots.
You by no means get the sense that “Reptile” is aware of find out how to attain the profundity it so needs. After the primary hour, the movie drones on and on round unhealthy clues and worse assumptions. The place is the rhythm? The place is the contact of temper or tone? Editor Kevin Hickman opts for smash cuts to elicit thrills, however inadvertently garners laughs for a way obnoxious the movie strains for an unearned grittiness. Equally the images purposefully retains us at a distance — choosing behind-the-head pictures — whereas inserting its forlorn topics in frames devoid of shade. The aesthetic misses are so egregious, you come to surprise if this movie is supposed to be a parody of Fincher’s handier work. They’re all of the indicators of a music video director with loads of concepts however not the roadmap for them to coalesce.
To some extent, the ultimate act of violence leans towards the deliberately absurd. It’s vicious and loud, and spurred by a frisbee. Singer’s movie can be infinitely higher if he stuffed his narrative with extra of those absurd moments. As a substitute he depends on rote generic strikes to assemble a piece that hardly musters the flexibility to say “cops are corrupt.” Thanks “Reptile,” for the breaking information. But it surely’s in all probability finest for this crime-thriller to easily slither away.
Grade: C-
“Reptile” world premiered on the 2023 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition. It is going to be launched by Netflix on October 6.