Psychological crime thrillers are some of the best murder mysteries, and The Little Things from 2021 is a healthy, if uneven, entry into its canon. Starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto, the 2021 movie didn’t make a huge splash when it came out but continues to garner attention in streaming with its neo-noir atmosphere and unorthodox ending, which has a lot of people asking: who’s the real killer?
The answer to that question is intentionally vague, but there are clues along the way that point to various culprits. There’s also been healthy online debate about the movie and arguments made for various characters being the killer.
What is the plot of ‘The Little Things’?
The Little Things is about two cops trying to catch a serial killer. It opens in 1990 with a teenage girl driving on a desolate highway being stalked by another person. She tries to pull into a gas station for help but it’s close, so a foot chase ensues. Just in time, she flags down a semi and barely makes it out alive.
The next day, Kern County Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington) is teamed up with hotshot homicide detective Jimmy Baxter (Rami Malek) to investigate a murder. We learn that Deke had an unspecified breakdown earlier in his career, and that the MO for the current murder is similar to ones Deke covered years ago. That MO? Nude victims tied up with bags on their heads.
A woman named Ronda Rathbun (Maya Kazan) is tailed by the same car that stalked the girl in the beginning, and she is then reported missing. The detectives collar Stan Peters (Frederick Koehler), a registered sex offender who urinated in public. Stan sees a picture of victim Julie Brock (Tiffany Gonzalez) and immediately breaks down in tears. Jimmy then brings up a different victim named Mary Roberts (Anna McKitrick) and Stan stands and seems to know it’s Deke on the other side of the mirror.
Deke has visions in his seedy motel room and meets with medical examiner Flo Dunigan (Michael Hyatt), who seems to know something about Deke’s past (more on that in a minute). Jimmy finds out the truth about Deke’s breakdown from Captain Carl Farris (Terry Kinney): Deke had a breakdown after his obsession with his case from way back, and ended up having a heart attack and getting a divorce, not to mention a triple bypass. In the meantime, Jimmy learns from Ronda’s parents that she usually had a red barrette in her hair.
Another body is found under a bridge, but it’s not Ronda. Then they meet Albert Sparma (Jared Leto), who they pin as a suspect due to his work being very close to the crime scenes. Albert starts to follow Deke around and asks him about trunk space. During an interrogation things get heated, but the detectives learn that Albert falsely confessed to a murder from years ago and seems to be turned on by crime scene photos.
Eventually, Albert tells Jimmy he’ll lead him to the bodies, and the two drive out to the desert. Albert just ends up taunting Jimmy and tells him he’s a bad detective and can’t protect his family, which causes Jimmy to bonk Albert on the head with the shovel, killing him. Deke shows up and instead of turning Jimmy in he helps him hide the body, and we learn that Deke accidentally killed a victim who he thought was the killer and that his friends in the department helped him cover it up.
Deke goes to Albert’s to destroy evidence and sends Jimmy a red barrette in an envelope that says “no angels.” Jimmy seems to know it’s fake and we know that Deke simply bought it in a store to help put Jimmy’s mind at ease.
Who’s the killer in ‘The Little Things’?
While Deke and Jimmy never find incriminating evidence against Albert, he definitely feels like he’s the murderer. According to director John Lee Hancock, that was intentional:
“Honestly, when I wrote it, I just tried to build in as many things pointing to his guilt as points to his innocence. I think there is an equal number of each in the script. I can make an argument either way. I mean, he does say, “I’ve got to work tomorrow, come on let’s go,” which is a hint that nothing’s going to happen out there. If he was taking him out there to go and find a body, then he certainly wouldn’t be going to work the next day. Or is he lying?”
In terms of the movie, we’re not supposed to know who the killer was, and that’s kind of the point. That means it’s up to the characters to decide whether Albert was guilty or not. It’s intentionally ambiguous, just like real life.