Some movies tend to walk on a very standard tightrope. You know you have to walk straight. But The Little Things movie is just the exact opposite. You are forced to tread on a string that seems quite straightforward in the beginning, you know, like your average whodunnit thriller and whether you would be able to bag the villain in the end or not kind of movie. Unfortunately, the very controversial twist toward the end of the flick takes all of that away.

In a subtle universe, it is a welcome change. You appreciate it and move on. But The Little Things movie’s bold and ingenious climax opens up some loose threads that go unanswered and a plot that screams for justice.

I personally liked the movie for a variety of reasons. The very fact that it is ballsy and unafraid to do experiments is the very first reason. Then you can’t unsee the performances delivered by the actors in the flick. Its great build-up, suspense, and finger-biting thrill leave you uncomfortable on your seat.

Even though it might baffle you in its climactic moment, where you don’t get the desired result, The Little Things exists in its very own universe of madness. Banks on some really powerful performances by the likes of some amazing actors like Rami Malek, Denzel Washington, and Jared Leto who are all tied down in this mad run of a killer on the loose plot.

The Direction and Editing of The Little Things Movie

Some occasions in the movie don’t quite fit the timeline, the way they are cut shows traces of some odd editing. But the direction of the movie is spot-on, at least for the majority of the part.

The director John Lee Hancock who brought us the likes of The Founder, is a mason of suspense. The way he builds on the character of Albert Sparma, the supposed antagonist of The Little Things movie, gives you the chills. If only the delivery was as satisfying as the build-up, you would have feasted on one of the most scrumptious dinners ever.

It is interesting to watch how the original story is kept away from the viewers giving them piece by piece to chew on until the cat is out of the hat. What’s going on in the life of Deke is forever kept in the dark.

The Little Things Movie Still the questioning

There are undeveloped and under-developed scenes that go nowhere. Unknotted knots stick out and you are forced to wonder, whatever happened to a subplot that got overlooked or a part that wasn’t trudged properly. Primarily because it seems someone brought down the guillotine all of a sudden out of nowhere.

You can’t possibly ignore the music used in the movie. Thomas Newman once again to the rescue. His music just stands out in its very own universe. Suits the overall theme of The Little Things.

Jared Leto as Albert Sparma

Jared Leto doesn’t even have to try these days. No wonder he was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor Guild award for his role as Albert Sparma.

However, limited his screentime was being the shady villain in the movie, it was extremely well portrayed. It is not hard to sense a powerful villain in the making had the movie gone in a different direction altogether.

Sparma could have been a sick genius we would have remembered in days to come if he was given more stuff to do toward the end.

Jared aces the walk, ensures you remember him in days to come owing to his performance. It is just one of a kind. He portrays this character by adding it to the psychotic theme he plays in the movie. The sick perversion feels like coming naturally and effortlessly.

Rami Malek as Jim Baxter

Rami Malek is no far behind in terms of acting as he plays the character of Jim Baxter. Jim is a righteous and diligent detective who has solved every single case he has been on. He has that good guy image yet to be smeared by the business he is in.

Jim is quite impatient for a detective who wants to catch a criminal. Sparma uses this quality to his advantage. He tries to instigate him and pokes a needle into the area where it’d hurt him the most.

One of the most memorable bits in the movie is his questioning. Reeling into the head of Sparma would be a good psychological case study for students. He mocks his apprehenders to an extent that breaks them causing them to lose focus.

Another one is when Jim buys some time by calling Sparma to meet him in a pub, for Deke to go looking in his apartment without a warrant. Sparma ends up being a genius by seeing through their fabricated act.

Also going in alone with a pyschotic suspect to a No Man’s Land all by himself, it gives you the jitters.

The Real Story of Joe ‘Deke’ Deacon Explained

How could one forget the ever brooding Oscar Winner Denzel Washington? He is absolutely fantastic in the shoes of Joe Deke Deacon. The sad eye he carries is riddled with a mystery no one has any clue about. Hancock does a good job at hiding the real reason behind the skeletons in his closet.

There are dirty little secrets housed inside his heart. A past that would compel your insides to convulse. All this time you see him talking to ghosts, forever riding a crazy bandwagon in order to nail the victim he has been chasing for a really long time.

But the reality is a tad different. He is trying to absolve himself of the heinous crime he has accidentally committed by shooting an innocent. Now he is trying to do the right thing by catching the real criminal, a case he was forced to drop because of the accident.

The reason he had dropped the case and went into solitude was because of the blood on his hands. It is gnawing at him. The guilt, the albatross on his neck hanging and suffocating him every day. He witnesses the ghost of the girl he has killed and goes hard on himself every single day.

He wants it to be a constant reminder of what he has done. The import of it all, and his place in the scheme of life that he leads in search of an elusive killer. Whoever might be the killer, he is one himself, and the worst of all is that he is out on the loose.

The Aftermath

A movie is good if it forces you to think of its aftermath.

You already see Deke giving Jim his closure by sending him a red barrette which Jim was fixated upon. To him, if a red barrette was found with the suspect, it would mean that the suspect was the real killer. Deke let him have that satisfaction. So you could see how relaxed Jim becomes on finding out that he indeed got the right man.

It is hard not to wonder what would happen to Deke now.

Deke derives his satisfaction from the fact that there is one more like him. It would probably let him sleep at night.

But you know in your heart, nothing would change for Deke even after that small ounce of satisfaction. The guilt remains. He would still remain clutched into the hands of paranoia. The never-ending search for the killer, in the process of his own absolution, insinuates like an everlasting affair.

Was Albert Sparma the Real Villain in The Little Things Movie?

The society is full of crooks. People have obsessions with crime or making a mockery of the police. To waste their time and to have fun with them. Making them think that they are the criminals. One such deranged psychopath was Albert Sparma.

Albert, you come to believe had nothing on him, no evidence, but he was still poking his nose and having fun with the police.

We are witnessing things from the perspective of the police, deliberately tacking him, believing him to be the real threat. At one point even a victim girl’s head fills with doubt about Sparma since she watches him being brought in chains to the police station. You can imagine all of this is nothing but an influenced thought. Your head is playing games because of what you believe in.

But a contradicting doubt gets planted in your head too when you see Sparma playing with the head of Jim when he asks him to dig random holes to waste his time. He liked messing around with the law, and he was using it to his advantage.

Was he a criminal? Hancock likes to keep it as a grey area.

You are left with your own thoughts after having watched the movie, your own deductions. But you can’t simply oversee that there was no evidence whatsoever against him, even though Sparma acted a lot shady. That Sparma could be nothing but yet another enthusiast who simply obtained pleasure from watching crimes happen around him. Eventually got the punishment he didn’t deserve for a crime he didn’t commit, but barely had an interest in.

Another grey area to ponder about would be, do such people deserve to live? Or was it poetic justice?

The Final Verdict of Movie The Little Things

You could argue day and night how The Little Things movie could have become a great thriller flick, and that it didn’t leverage the actors to the maximum, that it wasn’t fulfilling to watch because it felt as if it was chopped off mid-way. But you can’t deny that owing to the performances of the cast, and the major plot twist toward the end, you are going to remember this in days to come.

The questions that it poses is what makes it very interesting for the viewers. Who is the real killer in the movie? It ends up becoming a rhetorical question.

You can check out the trailer of The Little Things here: