“What you get with Benicio is truth, conviction, and passion,” says director and co-writer Grant Singer of Benicio del Toro, the star of his new neo-noir film, Reptile. 

An established music video director who has worked with Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, and Skrillex, Singer set out to craft an atmospheric tale of deception with his first feature, which follows del Toro’s hardened detective, a man hellbent on uncovering the truth behind the brutal murder of a young real estate agent. So, he shunned some of the flashier moves he perfected during his music video days in favor of a more restrained approach. 

Recruiting a top-flight cast led by del Toro, Singer arrived to set each day incredibly prepared, and then allowed his actors to work freely — any nerves he might have felt behind the camera were immediately quelled by the electricity generated by the cast as they performed. “There was a scene with [costar Eric] Bogosian and Benicio, an important scene in the script for the storytelling,” Singer explains. “I was anxious. But the second we were rehearsing it, I knew it didn’t matter how I shot it; I was going to get it because what I was watching between these two characters was so real and tense and emotional and heavy that I couldn’t fuck it up.”

As heavy as the subject matter is, Singer cautions that Reptile is not oppressive or bleak in tone. “Yes, the film has thrilling moments, but there is a warmth. There’s a brotherhood with the cops, and there’s playfulness and humor.” Much of the warmth came from the relationship between del Toro and his onscreen wife, played by Alicia Silverstone, his co-star from the 1997 crime comedy Excess Baggage. “It’s a different role for her. She inhabits every moment,” says Singer. Joining the ensemble is Justin Timberlake, whose presence lends mystery to a story that constantly forces the viewer to question each character’s motivations. “I wanted to imbue that [idea of] deception in the storytelling and in the way the characters are experiencing the narrative,” says Singer.

All interviews included in this piece were completed prior to May 2, 2023.