Sleuth

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Sleuth

PG,

1972,

2h 18m,

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

90%

29 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Based on the renowned play by Anthony Shaffer, this mystery finds Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier), a wealthy author of detective novels and game aficionado, facing off against his wife's lover, Milo Tindle (Michael Caine), a middle-class hair-salon owner. When Wyke, who is seemingly content to split from his wife, strikes an unusual deal with Tindle, it sets in motion a fierce game of one-upmanship between the two, with the stakes growing increasingly higher.

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 29, 2023

The ornateness of the conceits becomes heavy, and Sleuth stops being fun at the end of the first round, long before the end.

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Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

Jun 12, 2020

The transition of Sleuth from stage to screen is more than a matter of "opening" the scene (and what an opening that garden maze provides for the film!).

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Jay Cocks

TIME Magazine

Apr 20, 2010

This is a fastidious, acrobatically cunning and invigoratingly well-acted thriller.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Mar 14, 2026

3.5/4

A delicious adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s stage hit.

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Alain Garsautl

Positif

May 3, 2022

Rarely has a film so precisely, by its very form, established its maker as the all-powerful, organizing intelligence that the audience cannot perceive directly. This concept is deeply rooted in Mankiewicz’s attitude toward his subject and his art.

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Chase Burns

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Feb 2, 2022

I don't get it. The puppets, man, they really kill it. It's hard to take serious men who love puppets seriously.

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Leia W

Jan 3, 2019

This is in my opinion the most perfect film ever made. This is my favorite film and it has been since I was a small child.

Dec 29, 2018

Brilliant - but don't watch the remake which is terrible and spoils the story.

George R

Jul 14, 2018

An interesting and entertaining take-off on the myriad on mystery novels (and their fans), two men play a game of wits over a woman. With nary a dull moment the stars, Olivier and Caine, get plenty of opportunities to show off and they take advantage every time. Movie fun, pure and simple. A verbal armageddon the English are famous for.

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Theodore L

Feb 17, 2018

1001 movies to see before you die.

Albus L

Nov 21, 2017

How not to enjoy the one of the most entertaining interpretive duels in history?

Han S

Nov 4, 2017

Awful people being awful to each other.

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Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Director

Laurence Olivier

Andrew Wyke

Michael Caine

Andrew Wyke

Morton Gottlieb

Producer

Anthony Shaffer

Screenwriter

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Synopsis

Based on the renowned play by Anthony Shaffer, this mystery finds Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier), a wealthy author of detective novels and game aficionado, facing off against his wife's lover, Milo Tindle (Michael Caine), a middle-class hair-salon owner. When Wyke, who is seemingly content to split from his wife, strikes an unusual deal with Tindle, it sets in motion a fierce game of one-upmanship between the two, with the stakes growing increasingly higher.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Producer: Morton Gottlieb
Screenwriter: Anthony Shaffer
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox, Palomar Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 10, 1972, Original
Runtime: 2h 18m

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