The story of The Little Things unfolds in early 1990s Los Angeles
Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon isn't looking for trouble when he gets pulled into a serial killer investigation. But when Sgt. Jim Baxter needs his help tracking a predator terrorizing the city, Deke finds himself back in the thick of it—and the case starts to crack open something he'd buried long ago. The film's central tension isn't really about catching the killer (though that's the plot engine). It's about what happens when an old investigator realizes that the ghosts of his past aren't done with him yet. As the two detectives narrow their focus on a strange, solitary suspect, the line between justice and obsession begins to blur, and Deke's personal demons start bleeding into the case in ways that threaten everything.
Behind the making of The Little Things: decades in the making
Director and writer John Lee Hancock sat on this screenplay for over thirty years before finally bringing it to the screen in 2021. That's not hyperbole—the script was reportedly completed in the early 1990s, and Hancock spent decades refining it, building his reputation through films like The Blind Side and The Founder before returning to this passion project. Warner Bros. Pictures and Gran Via Productions greenlit the film as a premium streaming release during the pandemic, which meant it bypassed traditional theatrical distribution and went straight to HBO Max in January 2021. The film runs 128 minutes, giving Hancock room to let scenes breathe and letting the psychological tension accumulate rather than rush toward quick payoffs.
The cast is undeniably the film's calling card. Denzel Washington carries the weight of Deke's exhaustion and regret with the kind of understated gravity only he can manage. Rami Malek brings coiled intensity to Baxter, the younger detective hungry to solve the case and prove himself. Jared Leto rounds out the trio as Albert Sparma, the suspicious outsider who may or may not be the killer. All three are Oscar winners—Washington took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1990 for Glory and Best Actor in 2002 for Training Day; Malek won Best Actor in 2019 for Bohemian Rhapsody; and Leto's won twice, for Dallas Buyers Club in 2014 and House of Gucci... wait, no—Leto won for Dallas Buyers Club in 2014. The pedigree is there, though the film itself didn't generate Oscar buzz. It scored a 6.355/10 on IMDb, which tells you something about how divisive it is among viewers.
What makes The Little Things stand out: the performances and the slow burn
What's striking about this film is how little it actually cares about answering the murder mystery cleanly. Most thrillers are built around the question "whodunit?" but The Little Things is more interested in asking "who are we when we're chasing ghosts?" Washington's Deke isn't a hero—he's a man haunted by his own past failures, and watching him spiral into the investigation is uncomfortable in a way that doesn't always feel satisfying. That's not a bug; it's the point.
The performances anchor everything. Washington moves through scenes like a man carrying invisible weight, and there's a moment late in the film where he's alone in a car, and you can see decades of regret wash across his face without him saying a word. Malek plays the idealistic detective who still believes in the system, which makes his eventual disillusionment hit harder. Leto, playing the creepy outsider, walks a tightrope between sympathetic and sinister—you're never quite sure if he's a victim of circumstance or exactly what the detectives fear he is. That ambiguity is what lingers.
That said, the film doesn't move fast, and that's where audiences split. Some viewers found the deliberate pacing—the long takes, the quiet scenes of surveillance and dead ends—to be meditative and smart. Others felt it dragged. One review noted that while the performances are gripping and memorable, the film "deserves the straight-to-streaming treatment and not pay to see in theaters," which is a fair read. Movie OTT tracks where films land across platforms, and in this case, the streaming-first release probably suited the film's introspective rhythm better than a theatrical run would have.
Where to stream The Little Things online
The Little Things is available on major OTT services, and you can check the where-to-watch widget at the top of this page to see which platforms currently have it in your region. Streaming availability shifts, so what's on one service today might move tomorrow—that's why Movie OTT keeps the listings updated in real time. The film's runtime of 128 minutes makes it a solid evening watch, and the fact that it's not locked behind a theatrical paywall means you can settle in without the commitment of a cinema ticket.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who directed The Little Things?
John Lee Hancock directed, wrote, and co-produced the film. He'd been sitting on the screenplay for over three decades before finally making it in 2021, and the long development period shows in the film's careful, deliberate storytelling.
Q: Is The Little Things based on a true story?
No, it's an original screenplay by John Lee Hancock. However, the film captures the texture and tone of real 1990s LA detective work, and the themes of obsession and moral compromise are drawn from the kinds of cases that did happen during that era.
Q: Who are the main actors in The Little Things?
Denzel Washington plays Deke Deacon, Rami Malek plays Sgt. Jim Baxter, and Jared Leto plays the suspect Albert Sparma. All three are Academy Award winners, which is part of why the film generated so much attention on release.
Q: What's the runtime of The Little Things?
The film runs 128 minutes, giving it plenty of space for character development and psychological tension rather than rushing through plot beats.
Q: Does The Little Things have a twist ending?
Without spoiling anything, the film's ending is deliberately ambiguous in a way that's more interested in what it says about the characters' moral compromises than in delivering a neat resolution to the murder mystery. It's the kind of ending that'll stick with you—or frustrate you, depending on what you wanted from the story.
Final thoughts on The Little Things
Honestly, whether you'll love The Little Things depends on what you want from a thriller. If you're after plot twists and a satisfying mystery solved, you might leave disappointed. But if you're interested in watching three world-class actors inhabit a morally murky world, and you don't mind a slow-burn approach to character study, there's real substance here. The film doesn't always work—the pacing tests patience, and the ambiguous ending won't please everyone—but it's the kind of movie that deserves a second watch. Stream it when you've got two hours and the headspace to sit with it.
