Warning: This post contains spoilers for Netflix's Reptile!
Summary
- The Reptile movie ending leaves room for interpretation as director Grant Singer intentionally keeps certain aspects ambiguous, allowing viewers to question what they see and create their own conclusions.
- The frisbee scene in the movie serves as a contrast to the intense moments inside the house, symbolizing the director's own perspective and experience making the film.
- The accidental discovery of crucial photos adds a sense of serendipity to the story and drives the movie's third act, revealing a conspiracy behind the murder.
The Reptile ending, including the frisbee scene, gets explained by director Grant Singer. Recently released on Netflix, the crime thriller stars Benicio del Toro as a hardened detective named Tom Nichols who is investigating the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, Summer (Matilda Lutz). Throughout his investigation, Summer's stalker Eli (Michael Carmen Pitt), boyfriend Will Grady (Justin Timberlake), and separated husband Sam (Karl Glusman) emerge as the top suspects. As he digs deeper into the case, Tom discovers an entire conspiracy behind Summer's murder.
In an interview with Radio Times, Singer explained the Reptile ending, saying that some moments, such as Will's precise role in Summer's murder, were meant to be ambiguous. The director also shared some insights into the frisbee scene that plays a major role in the ending. Read his full explanation below:
The movie very much evokes this feeling of not knowing. And it's this fine, delicate balance between making something satisfying for the viewer, but also not showing them something. So that they can lean in and question what is it they're seeing, what are the motivations, is this person hiding something, what does that mean? Like the absence of information or the absence of a clue can sometimes be more rewarding for a viewer than actually showing. I think in terms of mysteries, sometimes the things that are most hidden tend to be the things that are most lasting. So, it's really just finding that balance.
So there are these like, acts of God in the movie. These serendipitous moments – like Benicio at the end of the second act, where he's putting away the case binder of the murder book and these two photos just accidentally fall out. And they end up being the photos that show the bite, which compels him to sort of revisit the case and look at the bite, which essentially creates the entire third act of the movie.
We really like this idea of this act of God occurring in the standoff between these two characters. And the frisbee... well, first of all, the frisbee is motivated by just these kids playing right outside the house. And this idea that kids playing was like a really... I think a nice metaphor, a nice counterpoint to what is going to occur inside the house. You have this really tense, devastating conversation, moment, experience, convergence that's going to occur, and then outside you have this playfulness of just young people, young kids just having a good time.
The idea is that I'm the kids playing. This is my first movie, I'm just enjoying myself, I'm just playing and this is my thing. And then the moment when the kids look and make eye contact with Benicio in the window, that's me making eye contact with my lead actor, that's a moment where like the filmmaker and the actor have this moment of connection. And it was a way to kind of create this sort of... to impart my own perspective and my own experience of making this movie into the experience of the story.
The Reptile Ending (Including The Frisbee Scene) Explained Further
The Reptile ending reveals the conspiracy behind Summer's murder goes as high as the police force. Summer was threatening to inform the FBI about a drug laundering scheme that saw Will and his mother Camille (Frances Fisher) planting drugs in houses so they could be seized by police and sold to the shell company White Fish for a fraction of their cost. When Tom brings this information to his colleagues, including Captain Robert Allen (Eric Bogosian) and Chief Marty Graeber (Mike Pniewski), he discovers the police department was in on the scheme, which results in a massive shootout.
Related
The 2023 murder mystery film, Reptile, features an ensemble cast of notable stars, including Benicio del Toro, Alicia Silverstone, and Frances Fisher.
It's also revealed that Will, who reported Summer's murder, was working with the cops and was partially responsible for her death. However, the specific details of his involvement are not revealed, as the Reptile ending sees him apprehended by the FBI in the middle of a golf game. This, according to Singer, was meant to be an ambiguous moment. It's also implied during a flashback that drug smuggler Rudy Rackozy (Owen Teague), who is seen standing over her body, could have been the one who killed Summer.
The frisbee moment plays an important role during the Reptile ending, which prefaces the massive shootout. During the tense standoff, a frisbee hits the window of the house and essentially spooks Tom and fellow detective Wally (Domenick Lombardozzi) into shooting at one another. This serendipitous moment, as Singer calls it, was simply an "act of God." In addition to contrasting the kids playing outside with the tense standoff taking place inside, Singer says the frisbee is also a metaphor for his own experience making his first feature film. With Reptile becoming such a huge hit on Netflix, Singer could have a successful career ahead of him.
Source: Radio Times
