Reptile: Thriller Elevates Benicio Del Toro As Its Story Lards on the Twists

By Kim Hughes

Rating: B-

Reptile, a sleek and noirish whodunit-slash-police procedural from co-writer-director Grant Singer — to date, best known for directing music videos — finds Benicio Del Toro as a happily married, low-boil cop recently relocated to a small New England town suddenly gripped by the rather grisly murder of a young real estate agent found in a vacant home she was showing.

Murders don’t come with more potential suspects than this one. The realtor’s partner and boyfriend, Will (Justin Timberlake) fought with her the night before. Plus, there’s a quirky not-quite-ex-husband on the fringes who may have drug dealing connections.

The realtor also had secrets she shared with a bestie who, it’s later revealed, has some weighty secrets of her own. And who is that oddball local dude who keeps turning up in places that seem to be connected both to the murder and the murder victim’s boyfriend, Will?

Nothing in the very twisty Reptile is as it appears, and those twists are both its strength and weakness. Viewers need to be alert to subtle narrative shifts and suggestive dialogue pointing to eventual reveals exposed during its intense conclusion. Miss them to your everlasting confusion.

Del Toro’s Tom Nichols works patiently to solve the crime but his personal life and that of his wife Judy (Alicia Silvestone) is deeply, perhaps troublingly entwined with the local constabulary. The stakes for success are high as Tom’s safe landing in the town of Scarborough comes after a bad scene on the force back in Philadelphia, about which the less said the better.

The couple’s arrival in Scarborough was facilitated by a connection of Judy’s who happens to be the local police captain Robert Allen (Eric Bogosian). The case and the move give rise to personal doubts Tom has about his own policing career which he seems both suited for (meticulous, cunning) and unsuited for (honest, compassionate). Del Toro conveys the entire constellation of emotions convincingly and with great dexterity even as his resting expression seems to be hangdog.

Rounding out an excellent cast is Frances Fisher as Will’s mom and business sidekick, Domenick Lombardozzi as the police force’s smarmy frontline muscle, and Ato Essandoh as Tom's unflappable investigative partner.

Fresh off a world premiere screening at TIFF, this Netflix-backed actioner (well, mental actioner anyway) is presumably a passion project for Del Toro, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Singer, executive produced, and features in virtually every frame.

It’s a good, fun film, the kind that likely scans differently with repeat viewings, and includes a savvy wink to the vegan word as per Silverstone’s noble and ongoing mission. But I had the killer — if not the labyrinthine impetus for the crime — pegged from the get-go.

Reptile. Directed by Grant Singer. Written by Grant Singer, Benjamin Brewer, and Benicio Del Toro. Starring Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian, Alicia Silverstone, Domenick Lombardozzi, and Frances Fisher. In theatres (Cinéma Guzzo Méga-Plex Sphèretech 14, Montreal; Mayfair Theatre, Ottawa; and Scotiabank Theatre, Toronto) September 22 and streaming on Netflix September 29.