ENTERTAINMENT

THE LITTLE THINGS Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto In select theaters and on HBO Max Fri., Jan. 29 R

THERE’S a killer on the loose in John Lee Hancock’s psychological thriller — and a smart one, at that. Washington stars as small-town Sheriff Joe Deacon, who touches down in Los Angeles for a routine assignment, only to get swept up in hunting down the person responsible for murdering a chain of young women. Though it’s not his jurisdiction, he teams up with Sergeant Jim Baxter (Malek), who needs all the help he can get to crack the high-profile case.

The authorities believe they’ve got their suspect in Albert Sparma (Leto), a menacing — yet extremely intelligent — mechanic, but he’s so far eluded even the most skilled investigators. As a game of cat-and-mouse ensues, and the body count continues to grow, Deke and Jim will have to go to extreme lengths to ensure that nobody else becomes victims. But it’s not long before things begin to get personal — and dangerous — on all sides.