Summary

• The Little Things, starring Denzel Washington, is now a hit on Netflix after flopping at the box office due to its pandemic release.
• With 18.6 million hours viewed, the crime thriller ranks second on Netflix's Global Top 10, behind Heart of the Hunter.
• Despite mixed reviews, Jared Leto's performance in The Little Things earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination.

The Little Things becomes a global hit on Netflix three years after flopping at the box office. Written and directed by John Lee Hancock, the crime thriller centers on a pair of detectives as their investigation into a series of murders in early 1990s Los Angeles leads them to a peculiar individual who may or may not be responsible for the crimes. Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto lead The Little Things cast, which also includes Chris Bauer, Terry Kinney, Natalie Morales, Joris Jarsky, and Glenn Morshower.

Now, three years after bombing at the box office, Denzel Washington's crime thriller has become a global hit on Netflix. For the week of April 1-7, The Little Things ranked second in Netflix's Global Top 10 with 18.6 million hours viewed and 8.7 individual views. It placed behind the Netflix original Heart of the Hunter, which received 19.5 million hours viewed and 10.9 individual views in its second week in the Top 10. The Maze Runner finished behind it in third with 12.7 million hours viewed and 6.7 individual views.

Why The Little Things Flopped At The Box Office

It Was Released During The Pandemic

Under normal circumstances, The Little Things could have easily made double its worldwide gross at the box office.

With an all-star cast led by a trio of Oscar-winning actors, The Little Things seemed primed for commercial and critical success. Denzel Washington, who's received nine Oscar nominations, including wins for Glory and Training Day, plays the veteran manhunter Joe Deacon, while Rami Malek, who won an Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, stars as the hotshot detective Jim Baxter. The mismatched detective duo investigates the alleged serial killer, Albert Sparma, played by Jared Leto, who won his Oscar playing a trans woman with AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club.

Despite this star-studded cast, The Little Things bombed at the box office by grossing only $31 million worldwide, just a tick above its $30 million production budget. However, the film was released by Warner Bros. at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2021 and, thus, was released simultaneously on HBO Max, which hampered its box office prospects. Under normal circumstances, The Little Things could have easily made double its worldwide gross.

The Little Things reviews, which were mixed, didn't help its box office prospects either. Though it received praise for its cast and throwback premise, the movie was ultimately deemed a run-of-the-mill crime thriller that felt too familiar and added very little to the genre. However, Leto's performance received critical acclaim, earning him a Golden Globe nomination. With The Little Things becoming a global hit on Netflix, its trio of fantastic performances should begin to receive more recognition.

Why The Little Things Is So Divisive

Was It Just The Wrong Movie For Its Time?

Warning: Spoilers for The Little Things ahead

The Little Things' Rotten Tomatoes score is a disappointing 45% from critics and 67% from audiences, hinting at how divisive the film is. While critics unanimously acknowledged the combined star power of Washington, Malek, and Leto, they criticized the shortcomings of Hancock's script. Some argued that the film failed to offer anything fresh to the serial killer thriller genre, while others found its twists and turns too predictable, comparing it unfavorably to David Fincher's Seven from 1995. Additionally, its many subplots were seen as unresolved or unsatisfying by the film's end.

John Lee Hancock wrote The Little Things during the 1990s, though the project languished in development hell for decades.

The Little Things' ending is especially controversial for a multitude of reasons. During the third act, Deke and Baxter's investigation leads them to Sparma, an unsettling man with an interest in the murders. Sparma seemingly confesses to one of the killings and agrees to take the detectives to the location of the body in a secluded area of the desert. It soon becomes clear that he is toying with the detectives, and Baxter kills him with a shovel. Meanwhile, a flashback sheds light on Deke's troubled past, revealing that he accidentally shot an innocent victim while investigating a double murder.

Concerned about Baxter's mental state, Deke instructs him to bury Sparma's body in the desert while he returns to the suspect's apartment to stage his disappearance. Surprisingly, The Little Things never reveals who the real killer is, despite Deke's attempts to falsify evidence to justify Baxter's actions, the movie leaves its many murders unsolved. For those seeking a clear-cut resolution to the story, The Little Things may not be satisfying in that regard, which is why the film is so divisive among critics and audiences.

Other than its ambiguous ending, The Little Things was controversial because of the timing of its release. The film debuted simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max during a time when there was immense distrust in the police force due to the murder of George Floyd and other high-profile police killings. In the film, both Deke and Baxter are involved in the death of innocent individuals and get away with it. Overall, The Little Things wasn't the right film for the time it was released, as it would likely have fared better during the 1990s, when it was originally conceived.

The Little Things is also streaming on Max.

Source: Netflix