Netflix is now streaming one of Denzel Washington’s best steamy thrillers

One of the great mystery movies and neo-noirs of the late 20th century has finally come to Netflix, giving a new audience an opportunity to experience one of Denzel Washington’s finest roles. Devil in a Blue Dress, Carl Franklin’s adaptation of Walter Mosley’s excellent 1990 novel, has recently been added to the streaming service. The movie is 100 minutes of atmospheric excellence. It’s tense when it needs to be, sexy when it wants to be, and always captivating.

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Denzel Washington is Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, a World War II veteran recently laid off and looking to make ends meet. When a friend introduces him to a private investigator looking to hand off a seemingly straightforward job — find a missing woman — Easy gets pulled into a web of conspiracies and deception, putting him in the crosshairs of some of the most powerful people in the city.

It’s a gripping story about postwar racial divisions in 1940s LA, and every element of the movie works in concert to create a complete picture of its main character and the world he inhabits. Devil in a Blue Dress fires on all cylinders, using every avenue available in cinema. Gorgeous cinematography, period-accurate production design, an evocative score, standout performances, sharp dialogue, and a whirlwind narrative all support and build on each other. There’s nothing extraneous in Devil in a Blue Dress — every single decision works together to create a larger whole.

The film is particularly deft at displaying how Washington’s noir lead isn’t able to navigate the world in the same ways as white detectives in similar films, something Franklin was particularly interested in exploring within the movie.

“Obstacles are the key to drama,” Franklin told Slate in 2022, when the movie was added to the Criterion Collection. “If it was a Sam Spade character, you know there’s going to be the one cop who’s going to be cool with him, and the other cop is going to want to break his neck. In Easy’s case, both cops want to break his neck.”

Easy is a rich role — a smart, caring man just trying to hold on to his life, serving the role of a detective without being part of the law enforcement system. Washington absolutely delivers on that role’s potential. He’s confident, calculating, effortlessly cool, and as sexy as he’s ever been. While Washington had already been nominated for three Oscars and won one (for Glory) by the time this movie came out, his star was still rising. It’s a joy to revisit that part of his career.

Washington’s striking performance is supported by excellent co-stars: Jennifer Beals gives a particularly alluring performance, and Washington has electric, instant chemistry with her and with Lisa Nicole Carson. Tom Sizemore oozes scuzziness as the duplicitous PI who hires Easy. And Don Cheadle steals the show in a minor role as Easy’s chaotic friend Mouse. Mouse is the kind of supporting role that allows for that, as the loudest, funniest guy in the room — and he won multiple critics’ awards for his performance.

While Devil in a Blue Dress got positive reviews, it did not do very well at the box office. Franklin attributed that in part to the release’s unfortunate proximity to the O.J. Simpson verdict announcement, which he feels complicated America’s feelings about a crime story ostensibly involving a Black man and a white woman. Franklin, who had previously directed the surprise-hit low-budget crime thriller One False Move starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, never got to make another Easy Rawlins movie. He told Slate that Sony bought the rights to the first three books of the series, and the hope was to make it a franchise. (At the time, there were four books in the series. As of June 2024, Mosley will have published 16 of them.) But Devil in a Blue Dress’ poor box-office performance stopped that plan right in its tracks. It’s a shame, because it’s easy to imagine how excellent a Washington/Franklin Easy Rawlins franchise could have been.

If you end up falling for this movie too, the recent 4K release from Criterion is well worth buying — it brings out Tak Fujimoto’s moody cinematography and the movie’s performances extremely well. But for now, check it out on Netflix. It’s among the best movies the service has to offer.

Devil in a Blue Dress is now streaming on Netflix.