Imma keep this brief, and begin with what would be my conclusion:

Beware of advertising for films that leads with “starring/from Academy Award-winning _____.”

It’s a hook.

Sometimes it offers a credibility sticker for works that don’t quite live up to expectations, and (I suspect) studios know this when they plan to distribute films.

We know Denzel Washington is a brilliant actor.

We also know Rami Malek and Jared Leto gets busy! 🥰🥰

But a few crucial elements for a thriller were lacking in “The Little Things,” and had they been a little more fine-tuned, I think this could have been a more entertaining film:

✂️Editing✂️: Wow. The tone shifted abruptly, often.

🎼Score/Soundtrack 🎶: The score didn’t align with the tone of the film. It was giving me “Lifetime Original Movie” Friday night premiere. And it also didn’t feel original. I felt like I’d heard all those ominous sounds applied during character walkabouts and snooping before. Also, randomly, “At Last” by Etta James played, but… bruh, why? Nothing finally happened at long last. ‘Twas strange. 🤨🤨🤨

📝Writing📝: I did the “Leo-pointing-at-the-TV” meme twice—once when Denzel said “…John Q…” because he starred in a movie called… “John Q,” and the other when either Rami and/or Denzel said the title of the film in their dialogue.

🎭Acting🎭: The actors, main and supporting, out-acted the screenplay.

I hit the time stamp after thirty minutes because the pacing seemed to RuPaul (draaaaaaagggggggggg)! 😬😬😬