Reptile (2023)

	Directed by: Grant Singer	COUNTRY USA GENRE Crime/Thriller NORWEGIAN TITLE Reptile RUNNING TIME 136 minutes
	Produced by: Molly Smith Thad Luckinbill Trent Luckinbill
	Written by: Grant Singer Benjamin Brewer Benicio Del Toro

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Tom Nichols	Benicio Del Toro
Will Grady	Justin Timberlake
Judy Nichols	Alicia Silverstone
Eli Phillips	Michael Carmen Pitt	½
Dan Cleary	Ato Essandoh	½
Detective Wally	Domenick Lombardozzi
Sam Gifford	Karl Glusman	-
Summer Elswick	Matilda Lutz	-
Chief Marty Graeber	Mike Pniewski	-
Peter	Thad Luckinbill	-
Renee	Sky Ferreira	-
Rudy Rackozy	Owen Teague	-
Camille Grady	Frances Fisher	-
Captain Robert Allen	Eric Bogosian	½

Review

This Netflix production is a pretty solid piece of crime escapism for 2/3 of its running time - a taut police procedural rich on characters and atmosphere. Benicio Del Toro leads the way with his typically naturalistic style, and the mystery hangs aptly in the air as we close in on a handful of possible suspects. The modern TV style production values and pacing are agreeable here, at least until the final third approaches, at which point Reptile takes a sudden turn towards genre-bound cliches. Instead of intensifying, the suspense drops abruptly as everything gets "solved" by a very convenient plot device, leaving plenty of open questions regarding the detective work the movie had been so meticulous about up until this point. An ending this sloppy becomes all the more disappointing when the groundwork has been as solid as in here. There is a fine supporting turn from Alicia Silverstone as Del Toro's wife - they represent a refreshingly sound relationship for the police genre. The effective musical score is by Yair Elazar Glotman.