Reptile

An atmospheric whodunit/thriller with a Benicio Del Toro that will burrow under your skin, who, along with debut director Grant Singer, elevates this Netflix flick to at least the event of the month. An inscrutable tale that, once unraveled, is an admittedly much-seen classic. However, it's told so artfully and with such excellent performances from the supporting cast that it takes your breath away. The almost palpable insecurity is brilliantly rendered in Del Toro's performance, while not falling out of character as the stoic client. Often reminiscent of the very best crime stories by David Fincher, the director has a flair for image and narrative. The script is strong in detail and especially in realism, with the scenes with his wife (an awesome Alicia Silverstone) among my favorites. (10/06/2023)

Reptile is an atmospherically creepy crime thriller with appropriately gloomy music that is original in its details, creatively interesting editing and a perfect cast, including all of the supporting characters. Benicio Del Toro turns in a majestic acting performance. With its excellent balance between revealing the suspicious characters and the constant uncertainty that comes with the feeling that everything will be different, Reptile is probably this year’s best American contribution to the genre. For a feature-length debut by a music-video director, this is a unique feat that puts Grant Singer on the path to joining the ranks of the elites (Villeneuve, Fincher). Four and a half stars. (10/03/2023)

A surprising gem from Netflix. A gritty crime drama with an outstanding Benicio in the lead. For a debut, it's an impressive effort. The chilling atmosphere feels straight out of a David Fincher film, and while it drags a bit in the middle, the finale is grounded and absolutely fantastic. (10/06/2023)

Perfect craftsmanship. A mix of intricate crime drama like Mystic River and gloomy atmosphere in the style of the recent The Little Things with Denzel Washington, but with a much more interesting script and a fantastic cast. The experience isn't in the twist or the story's outcome, which is predictable and there’s no really big surprise in store. The key is the style of the storytelling, the direction and the work of the editor, who has a great sense of composition and masterfully mixes some of the sound and image structures into unique units. For what is essentially a directorial debut, hats off. (10/14/2023)

How is it possible for a filmmaker to make such a high-brow thriller on their directorial debut? How?! Reptile is, after all, a masterpiece slowburn thriller with a first-rate, suffocating and perfect atmosphere dealing with the murder of a young stockbroker, but the deeper the detective gets into the investigation, the more drastically his view of the whole case changes, as does his character. The paranoid hallucinations, the nerve-wracking personality transformation and the chilling way he delves deeper into the case make this film, which appears at first and throughout the first half to be an ordinary whodunit, a thriller drama that gradually burrows deep under the viewer's skin, stirring up incredible emotions and an incredulous curiosity as to what will happen next. The case becomes far more complicated than it first appears and shows that this is definitely not an ordinary murder, but a much, much bigger intrigue. I had a great time in the second half, the film won me over completely to its side, and I have to say that if there had been a slightly more literal showdown and final "explanation" at the end, I probably would have been ready for a full score. As it is, the you have to make a little bit of an assumption. Though in the end, it may not even be a flaw. Excellent, chilling, suffocating and Benicio Del Toro proves again and again that he is a god in his own right, as he showed in Sicario. Excellent. (09/30/2023)