The Kid Detective

The Kid Detective (2020) is a Canadian mystery-comedy you can watch online on iFILM, and it goes to darker places than its cute premise suggests. Abe Applebaum was a small-town legend at twelve, the boy who cracked every case. He's pushing thirty-two now.

The fame curdled years ago. His office is a sad little storefront, his caseload is missing pets, and most mornings start with a hangover and a wave of self-pity. Then Caroline, a soft-spoken teenager, walks in and asks him to find out who stabbed her boyfriend to death. It's his first real adult case, and it shreds the comforting myth of the boy genius. Adam Brody plays Abe right on the line between charming washout and quiet despair, while Sophie Nélisse gives his client more going on than she lets show.

First-time director Evan Morgan opens like a gentle spoof of kid-sleuth paperbacks and lands somewhere genuinely bleak. It's the rare film that keeps the jokes and the dread in the same frame. One for fans of low-key, deadpan noir. Stream The Kid Detective (2020) online on iFILM.