Reptile is a crime thriller film directed by Grant Singer and the screenplay is co-written with Benjamin Brewer and Benicio del Toro. The film was initially released in select theatres on September 22, 2023, before being released on Netflix later. It has a runtime of about 2 hours and 16 minutes.
The ensemble cast of the film includes Benicio del Toro as Detective Tom Nichols, Justin Timberlake as Will Grady, Alicia Silverstone as Judy Nichols, Eric Bogosian as Captain Robert Allen, Ato Essandoh as Detective Dan Cleary, Domenick Lombardozzi as Wally, Michael Pitt as Eli Phillips, Karl Glusman as Sam Gifford, Matilda Lutz as Summer Elswick, Mike Pniewski as Chief Marty Graeber, Thad Luckinbill as Peter, Sky Ferreira as Renee, Owen Teague as Rudy Rackozy, Frances Fisher as Camille Grady, Catherine Dyer as Deena Allen, James Devoti as Bennett Rosoff and Michael Beasley as Victor.
Reptile Review
The film starts off with Will Grady and his girlfriend Summer Elswick moving into a new house but something seems to be off between them. Summer feels like she is being chased and is quite distant from Will. Until one day, Will finds her stabbed to death in their house. Detective Tom Nichols is put on the case to investigate the murder by Captain Robert Allen, who’s also her wife’s uncle.
We get to know that Tom and his wife Judy have been through some tough times recently. Tom’s ex-partner was investigated for drugs, bribes etc. that put a damp on his reputation as well and they relocated to the present place with her uncle’s help. While investigating the murder, he comes across Summer’s husband and another suspicious man named Eli Philips, who carries a grudge against Will’s family.
Almost every person that they come across seems like a suspect with an ulterior motive to take revenge. Amidst all this, we also get to see Tom & Judy’s married life and everything might not be as full of roses as it seems. Tom still seems to be reeling from his recent traumatic past and the current case becomes more puzzling by the day when he realises that his closest people might be involved in it.
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At first, you expect that some surprising revelations will come out about Will’s business and relationship with Summer, family issues etc. Making you suspect him but not being the actual culprit in the end. However, things are quite befuddled here. It’s like everyone can be suspected but you don’t have any actual hint or evidence to confirm one as the culprit.
Will and Tom’s life is shown in parallel as if Tom’s life reflects possible scenarios that could have happened between Will & Summer. There are so many questions being raised like why didn’t Summer get a divorce if she was with Will, what really went down between Eli Phillips and Will’s family or if Tom is as guilty as his ex-partner etc.
It gets you completely invested and expecting a big reveal about how everything’s connected with a satisfactory ending. But that’s not the case here – it does reveal the real culprit behind it all but you have to catch other details yourself to get the answers. Could it be because director Grant Singer is well known for his music videos and treated the story in the same way, to let the viewers make theories or put the two together?
It definitely is a thrilling film but also leaves you confused. Otherwise, stylistically, the creative framing and use of reflections and shadows add more depth to what’s being implied in the story, as well as making it visually appealing. Also with Benicio del Toro in the lead, you know the performances will be worth watching.
Rating: 3/5
Reptile is available for streaming on Netflix.
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