''Above Suspicion'' is a 2019 American

crime thriller film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by

Phillip Noyce Phillip Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian filmmaker. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet American''); thrillers ('' Dead ...

, 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. She is best known for her portrayal as Daenerys Targaryen in ''Game of Thrones''. She has received various accolades, including an Empire Award, a Saturn Award, ...

Jack Huston Jack Alexander Huston (born 7 December 1982) is a British actor. He appeared as Richard Harrow in the HBO television drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also had a supporting role in the 2013 film ''American Hustle'', portrayed the eponymou ...

Sophie Lowe Sophie Lowe (born 5 June 1990) is a British-born 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, Med ...

, Austin Hébert,

Karl Glusman Karl Glusman (born January 3, 1988) is an American actor. He had a lead role in Gaspar Noé’s controversial pornographical drama ''Love'' (2015) and appeared in ''The Neon Demon'' (2016) and ''Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). Early life Glusman wa ...

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

Omar Miller Omar Benson Miller (born October 7, 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 ...

Kevin Dunn Kevin Dunn (born August 24, 1956) is an American actor who has appeared in supporting roles in a number of films and television series since the 1980s. Dunn's roles include White House Communications Director Alan Reed in the political comedy '' ...

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

and

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

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

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquarter ...

Plot

An ambitious rookie agent is assigned to an FBI field office in the run-down town of

Pikeville, Kentucky Pikeville () is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. During the 2020 U.S. Census, the population within Pikeville's city limits was 7,754. In Kentucky's current city classification system, Pikeville is a home r ...

. The married man recruits a local drug-addicted woman as his informant and gets involved with her, thereby setting in motion a downward spiral of jealousy, betrayal and violence.

Cast

as Susan Smith *

as Mark Putnam *

as Kathy Putnam * 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 October 7, 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 who is known for her work on '' Little Voice'', ''Star'', '' Black Christmas'', and '' The White Lotus''. Career After appearing in several television shows, O'Grady la ...

as Georgia Beale

Production

The film was announced during the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian director George Miller was the President of the Jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. On 15 Mar ...

Philip Noyce Phillip Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian filmmaker. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama (''Newsfront'', ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'', ''The Quiet American''); thrillers (''Dead Cal ...

was set as director, with

and

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

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

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 barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by ...

and

Harlan Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname *Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive * Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver * Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician * Byro ...

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

Box office

''Above Suspicion'' grossed a worldwide total of $25,396.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wan ...

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

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

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

References

External links

* * 2019 films 2019 crime thriller films American crime thriller films American films based on actual events Crime 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 Thriller films based on actual events 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{crime-film-stub