Netflix has revealed the official trailer and character posters for Reptile, the crime thriller that will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Reptile will begin streaming on Netflix October 6.
Directed by Grant Singer, the movie stars Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian, Alicia Silverstone, Domenick Lombardozzi, Frances Fisher, Ato Essandoh, Michael Carmen Pitt, Karl Glusman, and Matilda Lutz.
In Reptile, following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective (Del Toro) attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
Singer wrote the script with Benjamin Brewer and Benicio Del Toro from a story by Singer and Brewer.
The producers are Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, and Thad Luckinbill. The executive producers are Benicio Del Toro, Rick Yorn, and Rachel Smith.
“He’s a man of destiny,” Del Toro told Netflix’s Tudum about the character he plays in Reptile,. “He’s a man who gets a second chance, but then something happens and a reckoning occurs.”
The movie marks the first time in Del Toro’s career that he’s had a screenplay credit. “The collaboration was a lot of fun,” Del Toro said. “Once we knew where we needed the story to land, then the question becomes, ‘How do we get there? How do we make it interesting?’
“We did research and tried to make it as real as possible. We talked about movies and storytelling with certain films as references. One that comes to mind is In Cold Blood.”
Del Toro talked about the film’s narrative: “I liked the unpredictability. There were a couple of what I like to call ‘Oh, sh*t’ moments that also compelled me to get involved.”
Timberlake, who stars as the murder victim’s husband Will, felt similarly. “I wanted to get to the end as quickly as possible — just like a good book or suspenseful novel. I liked the idea of playing a character that has to constantly react to the unpredictability of what’s thrown in his direction.”
Reptile also reunites Del Toro and Silverstone, who previously worked together in 1997’s Excess Baggage. “It was great reconnecting with her. She’s smart and she had great ideas,” Del Toro said. “Alicia brought everything we wanted for the character and more.”
“There’s a deep mutual respect and appreciation, so that makes it work well,” Silverstone said. “I was honored that they asked me to do it and that he wanted to work with me again.”
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.