Reptile (2023)
A slow burn mystery turned police procedural.
Laura’s Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Plot: A detective investigates the brutal murder of a young realtor, uncovering other disturbing truths about his community along the way.
Opinion: You’d expect the title to have some significance, especially after seeing a snake-like tattoo and a shed snakeskin in the first few minutes of the movie. But the would-be symbols/motifs/metaphors pretty much stop there. You’d have to do some real analysis to connect the title. This seems like a small thing, but coupled with a shocking and suspenseful moment early on, it seems to set a certain tone. This tone does not at all continue for the rest of the film, which turns out to be a slow-burn police procedural. I think that the plot and style being different from what I expected threw me off initially. Reflecting back on the film after a few weeks, I’ve come to appreciate it more.
I don’t think the movie established the relationships between the characters very clearly in the beginning so I felt behind the 8 ball from the start. Once I figured out all the characters, the plot became convoluted as well.
The score was intense but I didn’t think it was used at the right times. Jarring transitions were used to switch to a new scene but the mounting pressure didn’t pay off at the right time with the music.
The acting was good and I liked Benicio del Toro and Eric Bogosian in their roles especially. This movie had some potential, but lacked focus and direction. It turned out to be pretty standard and a bit slow moving until the final scenes. I personally think you could skip Reptile but it wasn’t bad if you like a slow burn.
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