R | 1h 57min | Drama, Crime, Thriller | 10 February 2023 (USA)
According to the 1737 British “Dictionary of Thieving Slang,” a sharper is defined as “a cheat—one who lives by his wits.” This quote is used as the opening title card in first-time feature director Benjamin Caron’s air-tight psychological thriller which teases and challenges the audience for the duration.
Eschewing the traditional three-act format, writers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka instead divide the screenplay into five chapters, named after four of the five principals, with one of them (sort of) getting double-billing and all receiving multiple coverage.
Out-of-Sequence Narrative
The first fifth of the story (which is second chronologically) is played out with relative simplicity. Tom (Justin Smith, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) is a failed writer who owns a money-losing Manhattan used bookstore. His uneventful life gets a welcomed jolt when the beyond-cute NYU grad student Sandra (Briana Middleton, “The Tender Bar”) walks through the front door….