Watched the USA's 2023 Reptile (2:15:51). Realtor Summer Elswick is murdered in a New England house she is preparing for sale. Detective Nichols take on the case. Among the initial suspects are Elswick's partner, her ex-husband, and a vengeful man who claims that Elswick swindled his family out of some property.
This is a quiet, almost Chekhovian, movie. It shows us everyday-life scenes such as dinner dates, poker games, drinking parties, birthday celebrations, and the like while the dark and gruesome events we are not shown occur before, after, and off-camera. The progress of the film is deliberately ambiguous--we in the audience are not allowed to pinpoint the murderer and instead leave ourselves to the mercy of the storyteller. This treatment, however, is the film's interesting asset. It makes everything even more suspenseful toward the end of the film. Thankfully, the ending is clear-cut, provides catharsis, and gives adequate closure to the case.
Yes, there are reptiles among us.
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