Spoilers for the ending of “The Little Things” follow.
Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto star in The Little Things, a nerve-wracking thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end – and beyond.
Here we delve into the mysterious finale of the film, which is available to rent or buy from digital retailers like Amazon. If you’re looking for good thrillers that keep you hooked, be sure to put this film on your watchlist.
Now the most pressing question in the story – who is the murderer? – is the most difficult to answer.
This is the kind of movie that will make you wonder if you actually missed some clues along the way that could help you solve the mystery. However, the ending of The Little Things was always meant to be a little ambiguous, according to writer-director John Lee Hancock. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
“I always felt there would be a portion of the audience that would prefer a very formulaic ending, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Hancock told EW after the film’s release in 2021.
“I wanted to try to do something that was different,” he added.
Of course, The Little Things doesn’t give away all its secrets. Many may now be wondering if there is an answer to the film’s main question or if we really have to live with the ambiguity.
We’re trying to decipher this ending using all the clues in the story and Hancock’s insights into it.
Significant spoiler in advance.
The ending of “The Little Things” explains: Who is the murderer?
The film is a Zodiac-style crime thriller and revolves around two cops, veteran Joe “Deke” Deacon (Washington) and rookie Jimmy Baxter (Malek), who try to catch a serial killer in 1990s Los Angeles. After a woman named Rhonda Rathbun (Maya Kazan) disappears, their investigation leads them to a sinister guy, Albert Sparma (Leto), who becomes their prime suspect.
But is he really the murderer?
After following Deacon and Baxter through the investigation, it becomes clear that they are firmly convinced that Sparma is the killer. There are no other suspects, no other possibilities.
And honestly, Sparma doesn’t seem too interested in proving his innocence. Even though he has stated several times that he didn’t kill anyone, he certainly seems to be amused by the situation.
After police officers failed to find any evidence during an illegal search of the suspect’s home, they are now faced with a wall of silence.
Desperate for answers before the FBI takes over the investigation, Baxter corners Sparma alone and asks him to reveal Rathbun’s whereabouts, dead or alive. Sparma admits he knows where her body is and offers to drive Baxter there.
He accepts while Deacon follows closely in his car.
Out in the desert, Sparma tells Baxter where to dig, which he does while Sparma taunts him relentlessly. When he mentions Baxter’s daughters and says he’s not fit to protect them, the cop freaks out.
Baxter hits Sparma with the shovel and kills him.
Deacon arrives at the scene and helps him cover up the incident. It’s not the first time he’s found himself in this situation. A flashback from five years ago reveals that Deacon accidentally shot one of the missing girls he was trying to find because he thought she was an attacker.
His boss Farris (Terry Kinney) and coroner Dunigan (Michael Hyatt) covered up the murder back then, and Deacon is now doing the same for Baxter, telling him to forget what ever happened.
Finally, they are convinced that Sparma is indeed guilty and that it would be better if he were dead. But was he the murderer?
In the final scene of The Little Things, Baxter is at home when he receives a package from Deacon containing a red hair clip identical to the one Rhonda Rathbun was wearing when she disappeared.
In another flashback, Deacon is seen burning all of Sparma’s belongings, including a pack of hair clips with the red one missing.
Deacon wants Baxter to feel like he did the right thing, caught the killer and got justice, even if it was illegal.
However, this is just an illusion that not even Baxter really believes in, if his facial expression in this scene is any indicator. The truth is that Deacon bought that box of barrettes. He didn’t find them in Sparma’s house, otherwise they would have had enough evidence to bring him to justice.
This ending implies something that some viewers may find unsatisfying: we don’t know who the killer was, and we never will.
Sure, Sparma looked guilty enough whether he was wearing the red hair clip or not, so we can assume he was the killer. We can also look closely at the evidence and determine that he was the prime suspect due to a lack of other options and the growing obsession of two very frustrated police officers.
Either way, The Little Things wants you to live with the ambiguity. “Honestly, when I was writing, I just tried to put in as many things that pointed to his guilt as I did to his innocence,” Hancock told EW.
“I think the script has both in equal numbers. I can argue both. He says, ‘I have to work tomorrow, come on, let’s go,’ which is an indication that nothing is going to happen out there. If he had taken him there to look for a body, he certainly wouldn’t have gone to work the next day. Or is he lying?”
It seems as if every viewer has to decide for themselves what they want to believe. Or they simply forget it and read the next crime novel.
“The Little Things” is available to rent or purchase from Amazon, the Microsoft Store, iTunes, and other digital retailers.
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