Summer, a young real estate agent on the rise, is found murdered by her fiancé and business partner in the house she was showing that day. There is no shortage of suspects, starting with said boyfriend. Unless it’s his possessive mother? And what can we say about this worrying young man who is lurking in the area? Right away, Detective Tom Nichols senses something is wrong. Obsessed by this affair, he is launched on the trail of the elusive truth. However, as director Grant Singer confides, Reptile (VF) is a detective film with a changing identity.
After directing many music videos, including several for The Weeknd, as well as for Lorde and Ariana Grande, Grant Singer signs with Reptilewhich he also co-wrote, his first feature film.
“Benjamin Brewer and I wrote the script and pitched it to producer Molly Smith, who showed it to Benicio Del Toro, with whom she collaborated on Sicario and its sequel,” says Grant Singer in an interview held during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Daughter of the billionaire founder of FedEx, Molly Smith notably co-produced, in addition to Sicarioby Denis Villeneuve, The Good Lie (The beautiful lie), by Philippe Falardeau, Demolition (Demolition), by Jean-Marc Vallée, and La La Land (For the love of Hollywood) by Damien Chazelle.
“Benicio was our dream to play Tom, but we didn’t believe it. Except he said yes. I’m not exaggerating when I say that collaborating with him changed my life. »
Memorable obviously in Sicario but also in Traffic (Traffic) And Cheby Steven Soderbergh, Benicio Del Toro composes in Reptile a fabulous cop character, full of nuances, looks and silences. His Tom is a stubborn man not only in his desire to find the culprit, but also in his professional ethics.
Benicio was our dream to play Tom, but we didn’t believe it. Except he said yes. I’m not exaggerating when I say that collaborating with him changed my life.
Which ethics, we learn, got him into trouble in the past, when he worked in another city.
Maigret style
We thus follow Tom throughout his investigation, both during his working hours and after them, at home (under renovation), with his partner Judy, played by Alicia Silverstone. On screen, the co-stars display a palpable bond, the kind that puts a smile on your face, because these two actually look good together.
We believe in this long-standing couple who, apart from a still obvious love, exudes this “best friends” side acquired over many years that are not necessarily all rosy. In this regard, you should know that Benicio Del Toro and Alicia Silverstone once played opposite each other in the police comedy Excess Baggage (Excessively naughty, by Marco Brambilla; 1997).
“This magic was perceptible in each of their scenes,” agrees Grant Singer.
“I remember, during rehearsals before filming, as soon as they were in each other’s presence, the couple they were supposed to be in the film came alive. It was instantaneous: we all saw it. I don’t know how to explain it… It was almost tactile. And it wasn’t just their complicity: the playful side that their characters shared was completely true. Benicio and Alicia had that rapport between takes. Alicia further imbues Judy with a wonderful warmth that provides a perfect counterpoint to the reserve Benicio develops for Tom. Tom who confronts evil every day and tries not to bring it home. »
As it happens, some of the best scenes in the film are those where the two spouses discuss the affair. A bit like Simenon’s Commissioner Maigret, Singer’s detective Tom Nichols seeks the point of view of his wife, whose perspective he likes to have on certain elements which leave him doubtful.
Because it’s a much bigger puzzle, and with much wider ramifications than anticipated, that Tom must solve. In a visual echo of this growing observation, Grant Singer opts for an increasingly insidious and visually sinuous approach.
“I choreographed everything carefully. I am thinking, among other things, of this passage where the character of Justin [Timberlake, le fiancé] shows Benicio’s character around a house: they have this uncomfortable exchange, then the camera swivels as they head towards the kitchen, then she moves slowly… They leave the frame, the camera swivels again, calmly… In the sub ground, where they then descend, I had a second camera ready. So that the actors did not have to interrupt their performance, since in fact, their movements and interactions were captured on two floors, in continuity. I believe that by allowing actors to inhabit their characters like this, by minimizing cuts, it can result in even more inspired performances. »
According to Grant Singer, if the film turned out to be different, and better, from what he had envisioned, it is thanks to the contribution of the performers, to the three-dimensionality that they infused into the roles.
The dream factor
What has never changed, however, is the original intention of making a film that defies expectations.
“The film begins as a film noir-style murder mystery, and then halfway through, an event occurs that changes everything and propels the film in another direction. From then on, several new questions emerge for Tom, and with these questions, a feeling of paranoia — I wanted the audience to also feel this paranoia and start suspecting everyone. Even the narration is transformed. »
Indeed, the film is colored with touches of dreaminess as a dull danger seems to approach Tom…
“In terms of rhythm, I wanted to both seduce the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats. The direction, the editing, the acting… I wanted the film to gradually become hypnotic. »
Grant Singer concluded:
“For me, films are like dreams. My favorite films — Lost Highway [Route perdue, de David Lynch ; 1997], Vertigo [Sueurs froides, d’Alfred Hitchcock ; 1958], The Shining [Shining l’enfant lumière, de Stanley Kubrick ; 1980], Wild strawberries [d’Ingmar Bergman ; 1957], Sciuscià [de Vittorio De Sica ; 1946] — unfold like dreams. It’s a subjective experience, it’s intangible… but I know that for my film, I was trying to evoke this impression. »
Like his protagonist, Grant Singer was also obsessed, but he, by an elusive quality.
The film Reptile releases in theaters on September 22, then on Netflix on September 29.