Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
A man who loves games and theatre invites his wife's lover to meet, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.
Sleuth is a razor-sharp two-hander adapted from Anthony Shaffer's stage play, driven almost entirely by the battle of wits between Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. The plot is a masterwork of misdirection and escalating psychological gamesmanship, with twists that genuinely surprise. Olivier and Caine deliver towering, theatrically electric performances that showcase the best of both actors. Cinematography is competent and atmospheric but largely functional given the single-location stage origins. The film is highly distinctive in its claustrophobic wit and theatrical artifice, making it a genuine one-of-a-kind experience. The ending, while satisfying, is perhaps slightly too neat and telegraphed in its final irony compared to the inventiveness of what preceded it.