Sharper movie

The latest movie to hit Apple TV+ is a wild ride that could challenge 'Catch Me If You Can' in its level of twists and turns.

[to avoid spoilers](https://www.purewow.com/news/rose-leslie-kit-harington-got-spoilers). It feels like [Catch Me If You Can](https://www.purewow.com/entertainment/catch-me-if-you-can-netflix) meets [Memento](https://www.purewow.com/entertainment/best-mystery-movies), and it's possibly the con artist movie to beat all other con artist movies. The twist in [Barbarian](https://www.purewow.com/entertainment/top-movies-2022)? [Sharper](https://go.skimresources.com?id=27667X859343&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftv.apple.com%2Fus%2Fmovie%2Fsharper%2Fumc.cmc.5ud0ivpwgqw2st0u4z73gwpar&xcust=sharper%20review) for you. That tone shift halfway through [Parasite](https://www.purewow.com/news/oscars-best-international-feature-film)? [psychological mystery](https://www.purewow.com/entertainment/psychological-thrillers-on-netflix) flick is to go into it knowing nothing about it.

You might not follow every twist in this tale of con artists working one another, but it's stylish enough to overcome a clunky plot.

Fortunately, there’s a cool, elegant style to “Sharper” that makes passive viewing a pleasure. “Sharper” certainly isn’t the worst example of this plot problem, but it’s not immune to it. In the case of “Sharper,” an agreeable new drama streaming on Apple TV Plus, it covers up an inherent story flaw.

'The Integrity of Joseph Chambers,' starring Clayne Crawford, leads VOD releases and James Gray's 'Armageddon Time' arrives on Peacock.

The era’s malaise provides the backdrop for a coming-of-age story about a rebellious sixth-grader (Banks Repeta) with a high-strung father (Jeremy Strong), a demanding mother (Anne Hathaway), and a sweet old grandfather (Anthony Hopkins) trying to impart a few life-lessons before he passes on. Two friends with a taste for decadent adventure give drug-smuggling a try with disastrous results in writer-director Carter Smith’s queasy psychodrama “Swallowed.” Before heading out to Los Angeles to become a gay porn star, Benjamin (Cooper Koch) lets his up-for-anything pal Dom (Jose Colon) talk him into making some money by swallowing condoms filled with illegal substances and crossing the southern border. In the bone-dry supernatural comedy “The Civil Dead,” Clay Tatum (who also directed and co-wrote the film) and Whitmer Thomas (the other co-writer) play Clay and Whit, old acquaintances from childhood who haven’t spoken in years, even though they both moved from their hometown to Los Angeles. The cast wrote the script on-set along with Ohs; and at times it feels like they’re all at a loss for what to do and say next. And Caron (a prestige-TV veteran who has worked on “Andor” and “The Crown”) has fun playing with the polished surfaces of the spaces where wealthy people dwell — the places where they can’t escape the reflections of their own guilty faces. But for the most part, this is an absorbing and nuanced character sketch, with a well-deployed supporting cast. There’s not a lot of plot in “The Integrity of Joseph Chambers,” so Machoian sometimes lingers longer than necessary on shots of Joe just walking or sitting. Machoian keeps the dialogue to a minimum, letting the quietly expressive Crawford carry a lot of the story with his face and his muttering. As in their previous collaboration, Machoian and Crawford balance the frequently grim subject matter with dark humor, as Joe makes up songs about himself or tries out arguments aloud to justify his various screw-ups. [“The Killing of Two Lovers,” ](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-05-13/review-killing-two-lovers-robert-machoian-clayne-crawford)for another insightful look at one man’s masculine delusions. The best movies about con artists — such as “House of Games” and “The Sting” — ask audiences to question everything we’re seeing, and to wonder if anyone, at any level, is who they say they are. As often happens with these kinds of caper pictures, by the time the story loops back to where we started the coincidences and double-crosses have piled up to such a degree that it’s best not to get too invested in any character’s stated identities or goals.

I don't want to overpraise "Sharper," a terrific, twisty thriller now on Apple TV+, since its ending falters and it doesn't exactly rewrite the playbook on ...

Middleton is simply sensational as Sandra, taking us on a rollercoaster ride of behavior and motivation that centers the action in ways you won't see coming. Here's a born scammer whose treachery is so sweetly done you barely notice when she goes in for the kill. Just go with the flow of this mesmerizer where nothing and no one is what they seem. Set in a Manhattan of haves and have-nots, "Sharper" stars Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan. And so we're off into a head-spinning series of double-crosses. Part of the film's puzzle structure is to keep us off balance as the plot divides itself into chapters named after each of the main characters.

Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan are con artists with a master plan in Apple TV+'s slick new psychological drama, Sharper. With their eyes set firmly on hedge ...

Turns out Tom and Sandra were in on the final con together. So now everything is theirs, and Sandra gets to strut out of the airport victorious. First thinking it was Max who had orchestrated a big con to eventually run off with Sandra, it slowly dawns on the couple that Sandra hasn't returned to her seat. Sandra (who's now gone back to being called Sandy) asks Tom out to dinner, and he accepts. With Tom dead, the foundation reverts back to her anyway as a trustee, so she's lost nothing. A struggle ensues and Sandra shoots Tom in the stomach. As Tom bleeds out on the floor, Madeline panics and believes he's dead. When the gang is back together, Sandra lunges at Max, wanting an apology, something he refuses to give because he's not sorry that he did it. Until this point, he'd hidden his family's wealth from her but happily calls in the favour with his father because she needs it so badly. Unsure whether he could trust Tom with the inheritance due to his previous mental health break, Richard instead leaves him his foundation. The plan works beautifully, with Tom swept along by the enigmatic Sandra, who wanders into his bookstore as his perfect woman. After spotting junkie Sandy in a bar, he recruits her to be his new partner-in-crime.

Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan topline a throwback movie about con artists that maybe could have worked when movies were allowed to be titillating.

It bears the stench of everything somehow working out despite it all. [Julianne Moore](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/gloria-bell-julianne-moore-804440/) and [Sebastian Stan](https://twitter.com/rollingstone/status/1569510551599857664) as a pair of ne’er-do-wells who’ve mastered the art of intimate thieving. A lack of humanity is low on these characters’ laundry lists of personal issues. The movie’s got the lifestyle-envy sleekness of a commercial for a luxury sedan, a glossiness meant to remind us that certain of these characters have no souls, only surfaces and empty gestures and a gluttony for dollar bills. One of these people is lying to the other — a “sharper,” per the movie’s title, is a con artist. It’s also trying to tell us that everything playing out in front of us is sexier than it really is. Most deceptions are cleared up within the space of a scene or two; the movie is trying to tell us that lying, for these people, is second nature, hardly a secret worth keeping once the damage is done. We have fun because we’re expected to want to figure it all out, to get one step ahead of people who’ve read the script and know how this all ends. Deception, in this arena, is as tricksy as a chess match, only — if the movie is worth watching — the contestants emerge afterward with self-satisfied blood on their muzzles. It’s bigger than the two of them and their booklice. ( [John Lithgow](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/john-lithgow-rudy-giuliani-stephen-colbert-late-show-902568/), who is solid here, plays an unlucky billionaire.) How they connect to Tom and Sandra is a secret best left to the movie, though it isn’t very interesting — few of Sharper’s twists, if we can call them that, are. It proceeds in the style of a Russian doll, with a series of subsequent chapters, each named for a character, that lays out when, what, and how each major character — each liar — got here.

Sharper star Briana Middleton talks about the lessons learned from working with co-star Julianne Moore on set of the Apple TV+ psychological thriller.

“Love is one of the things that maybe all of our characters are searching for in this film. “It really takes the pressure off of having to have this really polished performance.” In its exploration of human nature, Sharper grapples with the harsh realities of what people are willing to do to survive but also what people are willing to do for love. “Is it a love story?” Middleton ponders the question. “I love prep and research,” the actress says of her process. At times, she had to work to distance herself from the part and remind herself that she was playing a role: “I do think this stuff lives in your body, especially after doing it so many times and living in it.” “There’s this idea that you need to go away and do your thing, do your prep. “Thank God, everyone’s so nice,” the relative newcomer says of her castmates. It was Middleton’s connection to her character that helped her push through those more difficult scenes. Then, you have to come and do this really polished, finished performance. What begins as a picture-perfect love story between Sandra and Tom (Justice Smith) slowly unravels, as the story reveals its characters are not who they appear to be. Upon reading the script, the New Orleans-based actress says she immediately was won over by her character.

Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan star in the new film from The Crown and Andor director Benjamin Caron.

[subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article). Meanwhile, during this earlier scam, Max had realised that Hobbes's son Tom (Smith) could also be a potential victim, and working with his new accomplice Sandra (Middleton) he manages to con him out of a huge amount of money. Tom's death had been staged, he is still alive and she has therefore given all the money away to him This leads to a major confrontation at the end of the film which sees Madeline shooting Tom dead. It also has a non-linear plot that takes a lot of turns over the two-hour runtime, all leading up to one massive final twist. [Film](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/) coverage or visit our [TV Guide](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/tv-listings/) and [Streaming Guide](https://www.radiotimes.com/streaming-guide/) to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the [Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast](https://www.radiotimes.com/audio/podcasts/). [terms and conditions](https://www.immediate.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/) and [privacy policy](https://policies.immediate.co.uk/privacy/). [The Crown](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-crown-season-6-release-date/) and [Andor](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/andor-episodes-release-schedule-disney-plus/), and boasts a starry cast that includes the likes of Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan. [Apple TV+](https://www.radiotimes.com/appletv/) film [Sharper](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/sharper-apple-tv-tinker-tailor-inspiration-exclusive-newsupdate/) is definitely one for you. [learn more](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/commercial-links-on-radiotimes-com/)) [Subscribe to Radio Times magazine and get 12 issues for £1](https://www.radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription/?utm_term=evergreen-article)

Benjamin Caron's enjoyable caper features a glorious turn by Julianne Moore but stumbles in the final act.

If those foundations are sound, everything that comes before – the whole tricky framework of lies and deceit – holds firm. The foundations of the film come right at the end. The picture’s chapter structure – each headed by a character’s name, each giving a fresh perspective of an interconnected web of greed and treachery – is handled with real flair.

Confused by the Sharper movie on Apple TV+? Read Decider's analysis of the Sharper plot and ending explained, for the Julianne Moore movie.

Sandra, Tom, and Tom’s “security team”—who are actually con men that Sandra met from her days of conning with Max— devised their own scam, in order to get all of the money back. And that means he is still in charge of the foundation. And with that, the movie ends, suggesting that Tom and Sandra are now going to date for real. She calls up her lawyer on the spot and has him transfer all of her money to the charitable foundation. Sandra gets off the plane, leaving Max and Madeline with nothing. The one thing he leaves to his son Tom is his charitable foundation. In the movie’s final sequence, from the point of view of “Sandy,” we see that Sandra really did fall for Tom, and she confessed everything to him after pulling the scam. After the job is done, Max expects Madeline to leave Richard and run away with him. We also learn that Sandra grew up in foster care and that her troubled foster brother often hits her up for money. Sandra goes to make the drop-off, insisting that Tom stay behind because she doesn’t want him caught up in this. Tom asks Sandra out, and though she dithers at first, she agrees to grab dinner with him at “a little Japanese restaurant on Mott Street.” By the end of the movie—which also stars Sebastian Stan, Briana Middleton, and John Lithgow—you won’t know who to trust.