While The Little Things does not reveal the true identity of the killer, it does make it clear that Sparma was notLittle Things'killer. Its all terrifying, partially because it likely has real world influences, and partially because the only thing she sees of her stalker is cowboy boots. The audience gets a better look at them than she does (as well as the duct tape he also collected from his trunk), but its not much to go on for investigators talking to the survivor of Los Angeles Countys new serial killer. The reason both Baxter and Sparma seem to be utterly sure of Sparmas involvement can be attributed to a string of circumstantial factors, which is further strengthened by Sparmas increasingly questionable and bizarre behavior. This obsession with serial killing on Sparmas part is understandably baffling for both Deacon and Baxter, as it is indeed difficult to understand whether Sparmas behavior is simply creepy, yet harmless, or a precursor to meditated killings of his own in the future. Apart from being a published author, Debopriyaa has been writing professionally since 2014, and holds a Master's degree in English Literature and Theory from the University of Delhi. After the forensics team finds a partial fingerprint in the scene, Deacon investigates further and comes to the conclusion that the killer knew the victim in some capacity, and chose to come back to the apartment after the murder and stock the fridge with food and Busch Light beer. The Little Things. Not likely. After all, Joes been there. If there is any additional proof that Sparma is the murderer, it is the moment when he manipulates Baxter into the desert. In order to alleviate Baxters surmounting guilt, Deacon buys a red barrette and sends it to Baxter, implying that Sparma was, in fact, the killer in question. Later, at his home, Baxter receives an envelope sent by Deacon, containing a red barrette like the one Ronda Rathbun was wearing when she was abducted. The Little Things might have crackled a little more if these two stars had the vibrant chemistry of, say, Washington and Chris Pine in Unstoppable.But Malek delivers a However, it becomes clear later that Sparma knew about the exact mile marker owing to the fact that he had a police scanner, which allowed him to stay up-to-date regarding key crime scene details and case-related leads. However, as this alone is not proof enough, Baxter runs Sparmas prints against that of the crime scene print, but the results turn up inconclusive. In The Little Things, Deacon & Baxter narrow down the prime suspect through a long string of circumstantial evidence. However, what does one make of the plentiful, yet unrelated circumstantial evidence that pointsat Sparma? With Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer. So Deke was left with a pair of shoes to dress up in but with no place to go. Unfolding in the 90s and unashamedly evoking that era's serial killer thrillers, of which there were many, The Little Things boasts a hell-of-a lead trio for what appears to be a by-the-numbers genre flick. RELATED: Is The Little Things Based On A True Story? RELATED: The Little Things: Joe Deacon's No Angels Message Explained. Movie review: In the crime drama The Little Things, Denzel Washington plays a sheriffs deputy who returns to Los Angeles to investigate a serial killer. Moreover, Sparmas suspicious behavior could be attributed to the fact that he holds an innate understanding of the true killers psychology, and simply apes certain aspects so as to attract the officers attention to him, only to baffle and evade them in a twisted game of cat-and-mouse. And planting evidence on a dead suspect. Robert Downey Jr's Dolittle Leads 2021 Razzie Nominations, The Little Things: All the Evidence [SPOILER] WASN'T the Killer, Is The Little Things Based On A True Story? When they take heroic Hollywood action, like getting in the car with the killer and breaking all the the rules, they pay for it by having to cover-up a murder. The Little Things follows Joe "Deke" Deacon (Denzel Washington), a Kern County deputy sheriff who gets caught up in a serial killer hunt in Los Angeles, pairing him with a younger detective named Jim Baxter (Rami Malek). As this is not the case, the red barrette acts as a red herring for Baxter, emerging as a symbol of guilt and the systematic evasion of criminal justice. Could Deke be a serial killer who for years has been hiding his crimes from his fellow cops in plain sight? of the unknown killer and that from an older Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. Perhaps the biggest question that the ending of The Little Things fails to answer, or rather, deems immaterial from a narrative standpoint, is the identity of the real killer terrorizing the streets of L.A. After Baxter is shell-shocked post the inadvertent murder of Sparma, Deacon asks him to forget that he exists, lest the ghosts of the past would come back hounding his already-traumatized and guilty By contrast the killer remains hidden throughout The Little Things, and the cops are never certain about anything. Letos creep has the air of a charismatic serial killer, but in truth he was probably just a crime buff who obsessed over the gory details. While there were clues that led Deacon to Sparma, they were circumstantial at best, as one needs to take into consideration that every murder case has a list of possible suspects who match the killers profile to some degree. When Deacon finds Sparmas vehicle parked there, he immediately assumes he is the killer, and understandably so. Determined to pin Sparma, Deacon raids his apartment, which is clean except for the presence of Busch Light beer cans in the fridge/trash and a dozen newspaper clippings about the murders. Yet by The Little Things end, Deke and his young protg have more questions than answers. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Rami Malek in 'The Little Things' In the 1990s-set neo-noir thriller written and directed John Lee Hancock Denzel Washington plays Joe Deke Deacon, a Kern County, Calif., deputy sheriff who gets himself involved in a serial killer case in Los Angeles, where he used to be a detective. Deacon never found a barrette in Sparma's home, meaning in all probability, the two officers killed an innocent man who simply fit the part of a serial killer. Today. Just wait. Joe is a cop who became famous for his relation to a serial killer case. So what really happened at the end of Little Things? Academy Award winners Denzel Washington (Training Day, Glory), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) star in the psychological thriller The Little Things. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks, The Founder) directed the film from his own original screenplay. Dekes choice to protect his brother in blue, even if Sparma potentially never killed anybody, is why folks might really be looking for an excuse to (further) condemn The Little Things troubled cop. This reached farcical heights in John Woos action-opera, Face/Off (1997). Well, first things first: in a flashback, we witness Deacon shooting and killing a survivor from a case he'd worked on years ago. It is exacerbated by the fact that Deacon sends him an envelope containing a red barrette, which was worn by Rathbun during her disappearance, implying that Sparma was, in fact, the killer. This doesnt mean Deke is the serial killer. As such, for every clue that Deacon is the real killer, there is a plausible reason as to why he may not be. Deputy Sheriff Joe Deke Deacon is sent to LA for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Hes covered up one cops murder before (his own), so he did the same for Jimmy. History & Influences Explained. When he was chasing who was possibly the same serial killer some years back, Deke shot one of the victims, unaware in the dark of night she was running for her life. In the end, The Little Things very much seeks to maintain the grandeur of cops sacrificing everythingincluding their ability to live with themselvesfor the greater good. If Sparma was indeed the killer, it would make sense for him to lure Baxter to a deserted area and then kill him once and for all. The opening of John Lee Hancocks The Little Things is pure adrenaline. Amid inconclusive forensic evidence and the obsessive need for closure, the two men remain fixated on prime suspect Albert Nevertheless, Deke eventually does find a use for themby wearing them to cover up Jimmys mistake. A formerly revered L.A. detective, Deke is drawn into Baxter's investigation after noticing similarities between the M.O. The primary focus of John Lee Hancocks neo-noir crime thriller, The Little Things, is that of a killer terrorizing the streets of Los Angeles, and whether officers Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) and Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) have correctly identified the killer, who they suspect to be Albert Sparma (Jared Leto). Deacon advises him to forget about the case or it will haunt him for life. A seminal clue that might have potentially tied Ronda Rathbun to Sparma is the red barrette she was wearing prior to her disappearance. This seems to fit Sparma perfectly, as he owns a vehicle fitting this description, which also has a lot of miles on it. Indeed, the pair of boots Deke wears while raiding the murdered Albert Sparmas homeand then later leaves in his motel roomis the evidence Joe first drove down to Los Angeles to retrieve in the first place: bloody shoes that would supposedly incriminate a suspect. The Little Things settles sleekly into its place as a movie of the week. Sparma waits for Deacon to get out of the car, to approach Baxter. Yet it was enough to cause many viewers to get hung up on those boots and the fact that Denzel Washingtons John Deke Deacon wears boots of his own at the end of the film. Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. However, this is not the case as Sparma is not only unarmed but also does not attempt to take Baxter by surprise when he has his back turned to him. Although it is uncanny that Sparmas daily habits match that of the killers in an uncanny way, such as Sparmas love of roast beef, which matches the food forced inside the body of a victim, there is no clear, tangible evidence that warrants his immediate arrest. Ultimately, in the end, The Little Things posits that the real killer is still out there, unbeknownst to Baxter who is still mired in the guilt-driven belief that Sparma was the killer. Joe Deacon (Washington) is a disgraced former L.A. cop who now works in Bakersfield, living alone on the edge of society. Twice. A year prior to the scripts writing, Silence of the Lambs won a slew of Oscars, including Best Picture, by thriving on the duality between a young FBI trainee named Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and the incarcerated serial killer who became a pseudo-mentor and ally to her, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Leading the hunt, L.A. Sheriff Department Sergeant JimBaxter (Malik), impressed with Dekes cop instincts, unofficially engages his help. While running a list of the possible repairmen who had visited Julies apartment prior to her death, Deacon is pointedat Sparma. James Bond: Was Daniel Craigs 007 Born Rich Or Not. While covering up a murder. Constantly toying with and goading the officers to provoke a response from them, Sparma appears like the type of man who derives psychological pleasure out of playing pretend and role-playing. Denzel plays the role of Joe Deke Deacon. These clues commence in the narrative when Baxter and Deacon arrive at the murder scene of Julie Brock, a young woman who had been killedin line with the MO of multiple stab wounds, bite marks, and carefully-positioned corpse. Yet the tropes which inform Dekes troubles, and some audiences suspicion, makes for a fascinating contrast. The Little Things is a crime drama written and directed by John Lee Hancock. However, the mounting suspense as to whether Sparma is the killer is resolved when he lures Baxter to an empty desert stretch, revealing that he had not killed a single human being in his entire life. A serial killer, who first struck in 1985, is back in action. Raised on cinema classics that ranged from, Best Serial Killer Movies of the '90s Ranked, Seven: The Brilliance of David Finchers Chase Scene, Michael B. Jordan Eyes Denzel Washington-Directed Drama, The Latest and Greatest Funko Items To Purchase Now, Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat: The Many Ways the Crossover Almost Happened, Why I Am Legend Has One of the Most Frustrating Endings in Science Fiction, Unboxing The AndaSeat Marvel Gaming Chair, The Little Things and the Mystery of Denzel Washingtons Character Explained. But Deacon is now reduced to more routine work in sleepy Kern County. It is entirely possible that Sparma could have gone on to commit an actual crime sometime in the future, having surveyed the patterns of an actual killer and the failings of the justice system. Joe "Deke" Deacon, played by Denzel Washington, is joined by Jim Baxter, played by Remi Malek, as they embark on an investigation that hones in on their prime suspect Sparma, played by Jared Leto. While it is clear that Sparma does suffer from some sort of psychosexual fixation, thriving on make-believe fantasies wherein he is considered the killer,The Little Thingsoffersno concrete evidence that points to his involvement in the crimes themselves. But Deke did this only to help a friend. Dendy Canberra - Cinema 7 Level 2, North Quarter, Canberra Centre, 148 Bunda Street, Canberra City 2600 https://dendy.imgix. The Little Things follows two California sheriffs as they attempt to hunt down a serial killer that has residents of Los Angeles terrified. NEXT: Enola Holmes: All The Clues To The Killer Twist & Case Solution. Its still a romantic view of law enforcement doing what needs to be done, even if that means filling a hole in the desert with an innocent man. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a killer. While analyzing the killers profile and motivations The Little Things' main characters, Deacon and Baxter,come to the conclusion that the killer in question is somebody who owns a vehicle with ample trunk space, preferring to travel across L.A. in order to carry out random killings. Deke really believes he can be these victims angels, yet all he and Jimmy end up in is a living hell. I imagine this might be what audiences are really responding suspiciously towardDekes justifications and rationalizations for cops with blood on their hands.