The Little Things

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Radio Ballarat and South West Victoria on March 5, 2021.

(M) ★★★

Director: John Lee Hancock.

Cast: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer, Michael Hyatt, Terry Kinney, Natalie Morales, Sofia Vassilieva.

The police needed to work on their social distancing.

David Fincher looms large over the serial killer thriller. With Seven, Zodiac and TV series Mindhunter, he's got the subgenre covered, meaning all new entries into the field are judged - for better or worse - against these amazing works.

The Little Things shares some elements with those Fincher films, including a character-driven focus, a moody atmosphere, and a strict procedural approach. But it lacks key components, namely tension, a growing sense of dread, and a feeling of urgency. While it cleverly subverts convention in places, it does so at the expense of the film's vibe, which waivers and eventually wanes, leaving behind an atmospheric thriller with few thrills. Fortunately there is a killer cast to save the whole thing from being a complete waste of time.

Washington stars as Deke, a homicide detective-turned-beat cop drawn into a murder investigation that bears an uncanny resemblance to an unsolved case from his past. Along with aspiring detective Jim Baxter (Malek), he zeroes in on resident weirdo Albert Sparma (Leto), convinced that he's the culprit. But is he? 

The characters are both the reason to watch this and the reason it doesn't totally work. Deke and Baxter are fascinating, but the film is more a portrait of men being pushed over the edge in their effort to do the right thing, rather than a tense thriller about a killer. The Little Things is asking "how close to the edge they will go?" and "what happens if they go over it?". As for Sparma, well, he's a strange cat, and that's displayed in a wonderfully creepy "is he/isn't he" way, but the thrills give way to some slower paced and monotonous as the character studies take over.

Thankfully the three key performances are delivered by three amazing actors, who all disappear into their roles beautifully. Leto is especially impressive, making Sparma believably weird - unforgettably so. The Little Things is at least worth watching for Leto, Malek and Washington.

But the story is so entranced by its characters and their internal struggles that it skips past the external ones. The stakes feel too low, and the much-needed escalation is lost in the slow haunting atmosphere. When the film finally gets to its series of late twists, they're met with an "oh - ok" as opposed to a feeling of genuine shock, surprise or horror. 

The Little Things is a brooding and interesting film, but it never clicks into a higher gear, leaving its performers carrying the load of a story that unravels gently, rather than with the kind of jolts we need or expect from such a movie.

In trying to subvert the genre and focus on the little things, The Little Things forgets the big things.