''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 combine ...

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 Susan Smith (née ''Daniels'' 1961 – June 8, 1989) was an American FBI informant. She was strangled by her handler and lover, FBI agent Mark Putnamthe first FBI agent to be charged in a homicide. Early life Susan Daniels Smith was born in 19 ...

. It stars Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston,

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, M ...

, 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 ...

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, Kevin Dunn,

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 headquartered ...

Plot

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

* Emilia Clarke as Susan Smith * Jack Huston 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 * Kevin Dunn 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 Raffaello Sanzio da Urb ...

as Denver Rhodes * Brittany O'Grady as Georgia Beale

Production

The film was announced during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Philip Noyce was set as director, with Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston cast as the film's two main leads. The production began filming in Lexington, Kentucky 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 Bras ...

and Harlan 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 Wang ...

, 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