Sharper Review
Streaming movie review
The movie twist. Some love it, some hate it. M. Night Shyamalan has made an entire career from one really successful twist and then a bunch of movies with much less successful twists. I am not immune to the charms of a well-executed twist. Mystery movies are a natural place for that kind of thing, and we are in a heyday of star-studded casts for mysteries with both the Poirot series and the Knives Out series. The latest entry into this genre is from Benjamin Caron with “Sharper,” currently streaming on Apple TV+.
The movie starts in a cozy little bookstore. Sandra (Briana Middleton) is looking for a copy of Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” and Tom (Justice Smith), the owner of the establishment is helping her find it, while also showing her some of the store’s rarer finds. They have an immediate connection, and before you know it, they have been dating for three weeks, with things moving in a very positive direction.
When an angry brother shows up at the door, things begin to shift. Their paradise is marred by a looming debt owed to some not nice people. From this point on, it’s hard to know who to trust and hard to summarize more without spoilers.
First off, the cast in this is amazing. Sebastian Stan is fully in his villain era and I am absolutely here for it. Julianne Moore is one of the best criers in all of Hollywood. John Lithgow is the perfect smug billionaire. Smith plays the wounded lover to a T and Middleton is a chameleon. I loved everyone in this.
Additionally, this film looks gorgeous. The color palette is beautiful and gives the whole movie exquisite film noir vibes. Visually, this is a winner.
But when it comes down to the story, there just isn’t a lot for the many, many twists in this movie to hang on to. We constantly wonder who is connected to whom and who is sincere and who is a liar. All of that can be fun if there is either some engaging action or an honest character who is trying to sort everything out, but this movie doesn’t really have either of those. Every twist just leads to the next twist without any story or action to fill in the gaps. I kept waiting for something to have some deeper meaning or payoff, but it felt like all style with no substance.
Don’t get me wrong, there are much worse ways to spend a couple hours, and if trying to figure out what happens next is your cup of tea, you will likely enjoy this movie. But if you’re looking for something with a fully formed story or even just a really great action sequence, you might want to look elsewhere, because to me, “Sharper” was just a little too dull.
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on February 25, 2023.