Tangled Truths || Reptile (2023) Film Review

The most intriguing thing about murder cases is often the intricate web of evidence, motives, and psychology that come together to reveal the story behind the crime. And when protrayed in films, there is usually that sense of thrill delivered. This genre of film appeals to a certain type of audience, and a level of satisfaction in some regards is required to consider such a film a good one.

The 2023 film Reptile tells us of the story of a detective who is tasked with solving the murder case of a woman whose death seems rather mind-boggling with the brutality of it. From suspect to suspect and risk to risk, it turns out that humans are sometimes way different than they appear as the story unfolds.

What I had initially expected from the title was something relating to the title and its literal meaning. That, really, was what lured me in to watch the film because the title intrigued me. Unsure of what I would find or what the story was really about, I only hoped that it would be worthwhile, especially since it had a run time of over two hours.

Character development, I would say right off the bat, is crucial for certain stories and often provides more depth and concept to the sides of the story to be revealed. Hence, to find that everything was set in motion pretty early in the film didn't exactly allow me to connect with what was going on for a long time.

With a murder mystery, a lot of puzzles—occurences that appear vague and ambiguous—tend to pop up regularly. They add up to provide that "mystery" feeling that could get one wanting to stay till the end. The film fulfilled this by making one wonder about the connections between events. I did have a slight problem with it, however.

Although there was a good buildup from what had happened in the beginning up until the end, and then there was the final reveal of all that really happened that was quite surprising, I do think that the film may have been made to have a run time that was a tad bit too long—over stretched, maybe.

A special note to append to this film is that the performances that we have are by no means mediocre. There was a story to be told, and it all relied on the ability of these actors to sell it with their skills to be convincing with their characters.

Inasmuch as I felt that the story was lasting longer than I would have preferred, I still felt engaged with the film, owing to certain dynamics of the film.

The visual storytelling of Reptile is something to commend and appreciate. I could tell even from the beginning of the film that thoughtfulness and a keen approach to the camera work had been put into the visual perception of what was being portrayed. The nuances in the camera angles, movement, and lighting made a very big difference.

Understandably, some questions in this type of film may not be answered until the very end of the show. There would be absolutely no problem if there was a resolution to the whole drama, especially with the puzzles. In this film, however, some things didn't exactly add up for me. There were so many mysteries to catch up on that I lost track of the connections they had with other things in the film.

Putting the shortcomings aside, I do think that the film ends in a natural way, as it depicts real-life scenarios and how they could pan out if they really happened.

Reptile isn't exactly the type of film that would appeal to many types of people because of its nature. The type of people that do enjoy its style, however, many very well enjoy it for its strengths.

It's not the best of films I have seen lately, but it very well sits on a 7/10 for me.