Two cops from different worlds hunt a serial killer together and become convinced that their prime suspect is guilty without a shred of evidence.

CRIME/DRAMA

The Little Things (2021)

Written and Directed by John Lee Hancock

Starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto,
​Chris Bauer, Michael Hyatt, Terry Kinney, Isabel Arraiza

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Connor Eyzaguirre

January 31, 2021

6/10

I like a good serial killer story. They're often compelling and well-cast, as is the case with The Little Things. But if you don't have closure, everything else is pointless. We need to feel like we were told a story that mattered, whether it's fact or fiction. In the end, there needs to be that solid feeling of accomplishment. Like we didn't just waste two hours of our lives. Considering this movie sported three Oscar winners and was from a fairly accomplished writer/director, I had pretty high hopes. Mixed reviews lowered my expectations, and when it was over, I had a bad taste in my mouth from a lack of closure. Spoiler alert. You never know who the killer really was. All you get is implication, and even that isn't very strong.

Denzel plays Joe Deacon, a disgraced former detective who is sort of an LAPD joke now. When he's in town for a job-related errand, he stumbles onto an ongoing serial killer investigation led by Detective Jim Baxter (Malek, in a painfully phoned-in performance). The two butt heads at first, but ultimately join forces to catch this guy, who may behind Joe's big case from back in the day. Soon, they have a suspect; a creepy loner named Albert Sparma (Leto, who steals the show). While Sparma taunts them and appears guilty as hell, they have no evidence. Now it becomes a question of how far they're willing to go to stop a possible monster.

The Little Things had real promise, but John Lee Hancock's decision to just not give us an ending was terribly misguided. We end up getting no real message beyond "Bury those bad feelings deep," which is neither original nor good advice. Despite some decent performances and a great build-up, the follow-through is disappointing as hell.