The Kid Detective puts an interesting spin on the coming of age movie. As a boy, Abe proves to be a supersmart sleuth, solving misdemeanours in his school and neighbourhood in exchange for small change and the admiration of the community.
Abe reaches his limit when the mayor’s daughter goes missing. Unable to solve the crime, Abe has become the epitome of the child prodigy whose gift ran out before he has reached adulthood. We meet Abe (Adam Brody) when he is 32. He fits the stereotype of the hard-drinking and rumpled shamus, his impressive track record now forgotten.
Abe gets the opportunity to solve a serious crime and redeem himself when high school student Caroline asks him to find the killer of her boyfriend Patrick. Caroline (Sophie Nelisse) gets to witness Abe’s shambolic ways first-hand, but her faith in his skills never wavers.
Written the directed by Evan Morgan, The Kid Detective has been released in India on BookMyShow Stream. The 97-minute movie sets up its unusual premise and Abe’s predicament admirably, relying on understated humour and Adam Brody’s sharp performance to deliver the laughs while also stringing out the suspense.
Like its man-child hero, the movie finds it trickier to deal with the grown-up reasons behind Patrick’s brutal murder. Social media reveals a crucial witness hiding in plain sight, who lays out Patrick’s secrets over a few sentences. As Abe stumbles towards the light, the movie takes a turn towards darkness that nobody, especially not Abe, saw coming.