There are many good series on Netflix. And also some very good movies. The problem arises when the Big Red N company starts producing exclusive films; that’s when the scale tips too quickly in the opposite direction.
“Reptile,” Netflix’s latest suspense and mystery film, has arrived on the streaming giant. If you were eagerly anticipating it, it won’t be us who dampen your excitement… it will be the professional critics who have already seen it.
Plot and synopsis of Reptile, Netflix’s new release
The film noir detective movie stars Benicio Del Toro as Tom Nichols, a hardened detective sent to investigate the gruesome murder of a young real estate agent.
As Nichols attempts to solve a case where nothing is as it seems, he is forced to confront aspects of his own life, including events from his past he’d prefer to forget. Alicia Silverstone and Justin Timberlake are part of the star-studded cast of Reptile.
At first, it seemed like it would be one of those new Netflix movies that would also do well. However, it appears that Reptile is not all that it seems, if we take into account what critics are saying about this police thriller.
The critics are panning it: a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes
Currently, Reptile has a critical rating of 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not a good start for a movie that the world’s best streaming service likely had high hopes for.
So, what’s wrong with Reptile that critics are feeling rather, um, unkind? For starters, its plot. According to Andrew Parker from The Gate, Reptile is “easily the worst big-budget police thriller” and adds that it will make viewers wonder “how it could have gone so wrong given the talent involved.”
Parker wasn’t the only one struggling with Reptile’s convoluted plot. Charles Bramesco from Little White Lies feels it leaves you with a “who cares?” feeling, while Natalia Winkelman from The New York Times wrote: “By the time the movie gets around to revealing the culprit, we’ve lost interest.” Michael Balderston from What to Watch echoed those sentiments, adding that Reptile was “all humor and not much else.”
“In the end, Reptile doesn’t seem like it’s going to make it onto our list of best Netflix movies. As always, it’s up to you to decide if it’s as bad as the critics make it out to be.
In fact, Reptile’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (at the time of writing) stands at a surprising 90%, which means it might be much better than it appears. The critics might just be on a different wavelength.”
