Sharper Review: Conniving Grifters Circle a Mammoth Prize

Con artists turn on each other when their scheme is exposed. Starring Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, and Justice Smith.

Sharper plays a long confidence game with cunning grifters who are never what they seem. The plot is broken down into vignettes that introduce the characters at various stages of deception. We get an early whiff of what’s happening, but the true scope remains a mystery until the second act. The subtle art of seduction has predators circling like vultures for a mammoth prize. The well-acted plot takes you from seedy streets to opulent penthouse machinations. I was transfixed until the need to go bigger pops the narrative ballon. The film digs in claws but loses its grip with an overblown climax.

Tom (Justice Smith) reads quietly behind the cash register of a small New York City bookstore. The beautiful Sandra (Briana Middleton), an NYU doctoral student on feminism in literature, walks in looking for a professor’s gift. The sheepish Tom is easily entranced by her sophisticated personality. He musters the courage to ask her to dinner. Sandra politely declines… just like her credit card a few awkward moments later. She doesn’t have cash to pay for the book. Tom gives it to her for free. She can come back and pay later.

Tom and Sandra in Love

Sandra arrives with money as Tom closes the shop. He’s surprised and elated to see her. Sandra admits she wanted to say yes earlier. Sparks fly as they connect at dinner. Tom and Sandra fall in love. He confesses to being a failed writer struggling with depression. Sandra grew up in a foster home with a problematic older brother. She wonders why they always go back to her place.

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Meanwhile, Max (Sebastian Stan) visits his mother Madeline (Julianne Moore) at a palatial dinner party. Her older boyfriend, Richard Hobbes (John Lithgow), is a billionaire hedge fund owner. Madeline had warned Richard of Max’s spoiled brat behavior. He causes a scene that brings an embarrassed Madeline to tears. The powerful Richard has little interest in Max’s presence. He has a lucrative job offer to make the problem child disappear.

An Intriguing Start

The game is quickly afoot with an intriguing start. There’s much more to Tom and Sandra than meets the eye. The second chapter tells Sandra’s story and reframes the narrative. You get the first inkling of the deeper con and where everyone fits. But greed is a thirst that can never be quenched. Allies turn on each other when the stakes are just too rich for sharing. Why settle for peanuts when you can have the entire farm?

Acclaimed British television director Benjamin Caron (Wallander, The Crown) shines in his feature film debut. Sharper drips with tension and slick exposition. He builds a world where the players have zero compunction to villainy. A naive character asks another how can you be so ruthless? They reply with one word…practice. Caron shows just how slippery snakes can get.

Deceit Laid Bare

Sharper’s fractured storyline works seamlessly until the final act. The jig is up. The deceit laid bare exposes dirty accomplices and their motivations. The film then takes a sharp turn to deliver a shocking twist for the requisite bombshell ending. Smart characters behave foolishly when everything in their being would have sensed subterfuge. It doesn’t succeed. Sharper ends on a dull note.

Sharper is a production of Apple Original Films, A24, Picturestart, FortySixty, and G&T Productions. It can be streamed exclusively on Apple TV+.