The Deputy Review – Jack Nicholson’s Grandson Is a Star in the Making

Duke Nicholson’s Toby Sawyer is a lot like Mr. Magoo in The Deputy. He might not have a vision problem per se, but boy, does this rookie deputy miss the obvious here. He’s not exactly good at his job – and he only has one job: to watch over a dead body.

Toby turns his back for one second – okay, maybe a little longer than that – and the corpse disappears. From there onward, Toby’s evening goes from bad to worse, as he stumbles into a cacophony of awful situations further compounded by his own woes at home.

Based on Victor Gischler’s novel, The Deputy is written by Carlo Bernard, co-creator of Netflix’s Narcos, and directed by Matt Sukkar. While the film falls into the clutches of the crime-thriller genre, there’s a slick comedic touch splashed over the story. It’s not an outright ha-ha side-splitter, but it’s subtle enough to draw out a few laughs from the viewer, especially at Toby’s misfortune.

Speaking of Toby, more specifically the actor playing him, if his face and surname look familiar to you, there’s a reason for it: the legendary Jack Nicholson is his grandfather. While The Deputy is unlikely to be the film that has every studio in town ringing his agent, it’s a convincing display that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He’s someone to keep your eye on for the future, that’s for sure.

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It’s a good thing that Nicholson is such a talent, because he carries the load of the film on his shoulders and turns out to be the only ever-present actor here. The poster might have William H. Macy, Stephen Dorff, and Tiffany Haddish on it, but besides Haddish, the others aren’t on screen as much as you’d imagine. The same goes for Julia Fox and Billie Lourd, who are credited on the poster but receive nothing more than cameos here.

That said, Toby’s spiral into one bad night is the story here. From trying to figure out what happened to the corpse to uncovering crimes right under his nose, the evening is a major wake-up call for the character who is sleepwalking through his own life. Sukkar handles Toby’s transformation arc with care not to spell everything out for the audience, but the director makes it clear that Toby holds partial responsibility for how everything plays out here.

The Deputy‘s nighttime setting helps to maintain the anxiety and belief that danger could be around every corner, while Sukkar understands how to use the stillness of the night as another silent weapon in the film. Watching the film, you can’t help but think about an evening out on the town that has gone awry, and you just want to get back to your bed, but everywhere you turn, there’s another obstacle stopping you from getting home.

While there’s a lot to appreciate about The Deputy, it has one flaw: it runs 10 to 15 minutes more than it needs to. There’s unnecessary fluff that fails to move the story significantly enough to justify its existence and slows down the tension more than it should. With a little bit off the top and sides, it would have tightened up the story and improved the overall flow.

Make no mistake, though: Sukkar makes a phenomenal impression in his feature-film debut as a director. Unlike other crime thrillers that feel regurgitated and about as unique as James Patterson’s five-hundredth novel, The Deputy comes across as refreshing and remarkably different from the pack. It’s a bright spark of originality in a lonely sea of sameness plaguing the genre right now.

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The Deputy opens in limited US theaters and arrives on digital and on demand on Friday, September 25, 2026, from Well Go USA.