The complex plot unfolds as the self-contained vignettes reveal the background and events that shape the lives of the characters, and each chapter tells its own story while contributing to the overall narrative of the film. Things are a little slow to start but the action ramps up once the enigmatic Stan appears on screen and especially when he appears with the equally shady characters played by Moore and Middleton. Without giving too much of the plot away, the story does come together in the final act in a satisfying conclusion but is not as elegant, surprising, or as intelligent as other modern classics such as The Usual Suspects, or, more recently, the original Knives Out. And while there are a lot of twists and turns along the way, they’re not always as surprising or as unexpected as they should be.

In addition to the fine performances, the film benefits from slick production values and excellent cinematography that showcases its stylish New York backdrop. There are many scenes featuring magnificent shots of the Manhattan skyline and more rustic and grittier looking locations in the Soho district. Shot on 35mm film, the look of Sharper perfectly captures the film-noir atmosphere of the story. The picture can appear a touch soft at times but exhibits some slight but very natural film grain and a dark but warm color palette that is simply gorgeous. Unlike most films now shot on digital, colors don’t constantly pop, but they do so when appropriate, such as a night scene where HDR highlights make car headlights realistically bright and cool blue and red neon reflections flow across the windshield and eerily illuminate Sandra’s face. Most of the film is shot in subdued light, giving a somewhat gray tinge to things, but dark silhouettes of the characters appear absolutely jet-black and are often backlit with moody, pastel-colored tones that look fantastic.

There are still a handful of movies shot each year on film. And even though I watch movies on a digital medium, either on Blu-ray or streamed, there is just something about a movie shot lovingly on film that is quite special. Sharper is one of those films and will look exquisite on a high-quality display device with Dolby Vision.

The sound design is also superb. There aren’t a lot of boisterous sound effects, but the Atmos mix is used to effectively enhance the mood with judicious use of the surround and height channels to provide ambience throughout much of the film. The soundtrack features a variety of songs ranging from cool jazz to R&B and modern pop, and the object-oriented mixes are some of the best music in spatial audio I have heard. For example, the Talking Heads’ “Slippery People” features a simpler arrangement than the original version of the song with an extremely taut drum beat and percussion spread widely between the speakers, and synth cords and electric guitar set back in the soundstage, but presented with tremendous clarity. The vocals are also extremely present with David Byrne clearly delineated from the backing singers. This is the best I have ever heard this song sound including the 5.1 channel version on the DVD-A side of the Speaking In Tongues DualDisc and the more recent Dolby Atmos remix for Apple Music’s Spatial Audio. There are other examples of well-mixed songs, such as Curtis Harding’s “I Won’t Let You Down” and “Just a Lonely Christmas” by the Supremes, but “Slippery People” sounded so arresting that I actually stopped the movie and replayed it a couple of times just to enjoy its superb multichannel mix.

Sharper looks great and sounds even better on Apple TV+ with a story that is full of twists and turns. The problem is that you can see many of those twists and turns coming even though you may not know where the story will eventually end up. But there are still enough surprises along the way and some solid performances to make this stylish thriller a worthwhile watch.