''Above Suspicion'' is a 2019 American

crime thriller film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by

Phillip Noyce Phillip Roger Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet Amer ...

, from a screenplay by

Chris Gerolmo Chris Gerolmo is a Golden Globe nominated screenwriter, director, and singer-songwriter best known for writing the screenplay for the multi-Academy Award nominated film ''Mississippi Burning'' and the less successful ''Miles from Home'' starrin ...

, based upon Joe Sharkey's non-fiction book of the same name revolving around the murder of Susan Smith. It stars

Emilia Clarke Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received nominations for four Primetime E ...

Jack Huston Jack Alexander Huston (born 7 December 1982) is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as Richard Harrow in the HBO television drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also had a supporting role in the 2013 film ''American ...

Sophie Lowe Sophie Lowe (born 5 June 1990) is an Australian actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for appearing in films such as '' Beautiful Kate'', '' Autumn Blood'', '' After the Dark'', '' Adore'', '' Road Kill'', '' Above Suspicion, Medieval'' a ...

, Austin Hébert, Karl Glusman,

Chris Mulkey Chris Mulkey (born May 3, 1948) is an American film and television actor and blues and Americana singer-songwriter. Career Mulkey played the supporting role of husband to Annie Potts's character in '' Any Day Now'' from 1998 to 2002. He has ...

, Omar Miller,

Kevin Dunn Kevin Dunn (born August 24, 1955) is an American character actor who has appeared in supporting roles in numerous films and television series since the 1980s. Dunn's roles include White House Communications Director Alan Reed in the political ...

Thora Birch Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut with a starring role in '' Purple People Eater'' (1988), for which she won a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Birch rose to pr ...

and

Johnny Knoxville Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (franchise), ...

. It was released in the United States on May 7, 2021, by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

Plot

Susan Smith is a drug addict who lives with her abusive boyfriend Cash and two young children in a run-down trailer in Pikeville, Kentucky. She meets an ambitious rookie agent assigned to an FBI field office who recruits Susan as his informant for a high-profile case. Susan believes her bad luck may finally be changing, but as their relationship deepens, so does the danger, setting in motion a downward spiral of jealousy, betrayal and violence resulting in one of the most notorious crimes in FBI history.

Cast

as Susan Smith *

as Mark Putnam *

as Kathy Putnam * Karl Glusman as Joe-Bea * Austin Hébert as Randy McCoy *

as Jolene *

as Cash * Brian Lee Franklin as Rufus * Luke Spencer Roberts as Bones *

as Bob Singer *

as Todd Eason *

Omar Benson Miller Omar Benson Miller (born 7 October, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his work as Walter Simmons on '' CSI: Miami'' (2009–2012), as Charles Greane on ''Ballers'' (2015–2019), as the voice of Raphael on ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant ...

as Denver Rhodes *

Brittany O'Grady Brittany Ann O'Grady (born June 2, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her leading roles in the Fox series ''Star'' (2016–2019), and the Apple TV+ series '' Little Voice'' (2020), as well as her role in the first sea ...

as Georgia Beale

Production

The film was announced during the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian filmmaker George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and ...

Philip Noyce Phillip Roger Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama (''Newsfront'', ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'', ''The Quiet America ...

was set as director, with

and

cast as the film's two main leads. The production began filming in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

on May 24, 2016.

was cast on May 25, 2016, with May 27 seeing the additions of

and

to the cast, alongside numerous other supporting actors. Filming took place in central and eastern Kentucky – in Lexington in Fayette County, and in

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon, a beer produced by Brasseries de Bourbon * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * Bourbon coffee, a type of coffee ma ...

and

Harlan Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname * Abram D. Harlan (1833–1908), American politician from Pennsylvania * Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive * Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), America ...

counties – in 2016.

Release

It was first released in the United Arab Emirates on June 20, 2019. Its theatrical release in the United States and on VOD was on May 7, 2021 by

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film holds a rating of 46 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

* * {{Phillip Noyce 2019 films 2019 crime thriller films American crime thriller films American films based on actual events Crime thriller films based on actual events Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Phillip Noyce Films set in the 1980s Films set in Kentucky Films shot in Kentucky Lionsgate films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films scored by Dickon Hinchliffe English-language crime thriller films