An Intense Denzel Washington Crime Thriller Is Killing It On Streaming
Denzel Washington's latest crime-thriller, The Little Things, was impacted by theater restrictions, but now has a second life on HBO Max.
Denzel Washington is known for some of modern cinema’s most prominent crime dramas, and his most recent, The Little Things, is now his latest to be widely viewed. Flix Patrol reports that the movie is in the top 10 for HBO Max this week worldwide with a boost from European and South American viewers. Co-stars include Rami Malek and Jared Leto under the direction of John Lee Hancock, who also wrote the script.
The Little Things is about Denzel Washington’s haunted town sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon, whose marriage fell apart when he became obsessed with a murder case, and his 1990s investigation of a series of murders that have a similar MO. He serves as an advisor and mentor to Jim Baxter of the LAPD, played by Rami Malek, who is the lead detective, as the two attempt to solve the case by surveilling Jared Leto’s sinister Albert Sharma. Sharma continues to taunt them, further reinforcing their belief that he is the killer they are after.
As Baxter becomes more obsessed with proving Sharma’s guilt, Deacon sees the younger detective repeating his own history, and tries to guide him out of a similar fate. The investigation is thwarted time and again, raising the stakes as more murders take place and Sharma continues to play with them. Denzel Washington’s character ultimately finds himself tasked with saving Baxter not only from Sharma, but from being haunted himself.
The Little Things was released during that nebulous period of 2021 when theaters had limited seating due to social distancing, so it saw a concurrent limited release on HBO Max. Ultimately it topped the box office in the first three weeks of its release, despite critics giving it middling reviews that said it was a typical offering of its genre. Denzel Washington and Rami Malek were nevertheless praised for their performances, and Jared Leto was nominated for both a Screen Actor’s guild award and a Golden Globe for his performance as the deranged Sharma.
The Denzel Washington movie’s success is the reward of decades of speculation about The Little Things. John Lee Hancock wrote the script in 1993 and several directors, such as Danny DeVito, Clint Eastwood, and Warren Beatty were lined up to helm the project, only to see it fall through. Brandon Lee had expressed interest in starring in the film but was tragically killed the same year.
The project was revived in 2019 when Denzel Washington signed on to play Deacon, and filming began in September of that year. Its release date in January 2021 earned the movie a worldwide total of $31 million at the box office and the HBO Max release was viewed in 3 million households. The movie was released on digital media during the spring of 2021 and was re-added to HBO Max in June 2021.
Now the Denzel Washington film seems to have found another major audience around the world as viewers have propelled it to the top spot on HBO Max. With a thrilling plot and strong performances, it’s good to see The Little Things get a little thing like due recognition.
