Click here to copy URL

The Little Things

2021

John Lee Hancock

Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer ...

5.7

10,709

Thriller The story follows a burned-out Kern County deputy sheriff named Deke, played by Washington, who teams with a crack LASD detective (Malek), Baxter, to reel in a wily serial killer. Deke’s nose for the “little things” proves eerily accurate, but his willingness to circumvent the rules embroils Baxter in a soul-shattering dilemma. Meanwhile, Deke must wrestle with a dark secret from his past.

	Author	Review
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"A recycled thriller that lacks revelation (...) 'The Little Things' is just a warmed-over set of serial-killer-thriller clichés"	NEG
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Hancock doesn't match the surgical efficiency of the best noir screenwriting, but he's good with dialogue and character (...) What keeps the film gripping is its textured scrutiny of the principal characters"	POS
United States	Scott Mendelson Forbes	"It’s certainly well-acted and atmosphere to spare, but it feels like a cheaper offshoot of what would have been a big-deal studio thriller back in the day"	NEU
United Kingdom	Dan Jolin Empire	"A throwback thriller which brings nothing new to a crowded genre, and has little to say along the way. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and, to be honest, they probably shouldn’t (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"It’s a movie that's constantly on the verge of developing into something as intense and haunting as writer/director John Lee Hancock wants it to be, but it never achieves its goals (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"Three Oscar-winning actors walk into a movie and, well, nothing much happens. Such is the dreary fate of 'The Little Things'"	NEG
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"[It is] held aloft by the gravitational pull of its star power (...) Hancock’s fun and unusual riff on the serial killer genre proves rewarding"	POS
United States	Brian Truitt USA Today	"'The Little Things' is like a 1990s crime thriller that’s been sitting on a shelf for 20 or so years. Honestly, it probably should have stayed there (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEG
United States	A.A. Dowd AV Club	"[It] is pure boilerplate. There’s scarcely a moment in the movie that doesn’t recall a dozen predecessors (...) [Hancock] has the good sense to steal from the best"	NEU
United Kingdom	Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"[Denzel Washington's] reliable presence can’t save a drab, self-important procedural that can’t quite decide if it wants to be thrilling or thoughtful (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Matt Goldberg Collider	"'The Little Things' is fine for some stylish cinematography and reliably great Washington performance, but those don’t make up for all the other places where the film stumbles."	NEU
United States	Tom Jorgensen IGN	"Even a star-studded trifecta of leads can't save the tired, formulaic serial killer thriller 'The Little Things'"	NEG
United States	Robert Daniels Polygon	"The shift from a duo to trio transforms 'The Little Things' into an alluring ode to David Fincher’s 'Se7en' (...) [It] is a fascinating cat-and-mouse game"	POS
United States	Jeffrey M. Anderson Common Sense Media	"This thriller suffers from somewhat jarring plot turns, some overcooked performances, and other flaws, but the sturdy, classical direction and Washington's anguished performance make it worth seeing."	NEU
United States	Matt Singer Screen Crush	"A sleepy drama recycled from many superior films"	NEG
United States	Peter Travers ABC News	"A terrific, twisty, killer-on-the-loose thriller (...) Although writer-director John Lee Hancock can't hide the film's widening gaps in logic, he cuts to the chase with enough efficiency to keep you riveted"	POS
United States	Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"Denzel Washington cop thriller is a dud (...) The No. 1 rule for any detective story: The mystery cannot be boring (...) If the movie feels like it’s going nowhere, that’s because it is (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"	NEG

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.