“Reptile” stars: Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Silverstone, Eric Bogosian, Ato Essandoh, Domenick Lombardozzi, and Michael Carmen Pitt. Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.

As Detective Nichols, Del Toro (Traffic, The Usual Suspects) dives deep into the web of conspiracy and corruption that’s enveloping his small-town life. Alongside his starring role in the film, the Oscar winner co-wrote the screenplay with director Singer and Benjamin Brewer. It’s the first time in Del Toro’s long career that he’s had a screenplay credit on one of his movies. “The collaboration was a lot of fun,” Del Toro said. “Once we knew where we needed the story to land, then the question becomes, ‘How do we get there? How do we make it interesting?’ We did research and tried to make it as real as possible.

“I liked the unpredictability,” Del Toro said of the film’s narrative. “There were a couple of what I like to call ‘Oh, shit’ moments that also compelled me to get involved.”

Justin Timberlake, who stars alongside Del Toro as the murder victim’s husband Will, felt similarly. “I wanted to get to the end as quickly as possible — just like a good book or suspenseful novel,” he said. “I liked the idea of playing a character that has to constantly react to the unpredictability of what’s thrown in his direction.”

This will be Grant Singer’s feature film directorial debut and he had this to say to Entertainment Weekly.  “I wanted to create this multifaceted sense of deception that was both in the experiences of the characters, as well as in the structure of the storytelling. That was something that excited me. 

I didn’t want to make something that felt cold and clinical and sterile. I wanted to make something that felt alive and warm and relatable and human, and I think that was certainly an intention of mine to sort of counteract the suspense or the unnerving sense of unease with warmth.”

“Reptile” slithers onto Netflix October 6th.