“Reptile” ends with a few delicious twists and such a satisfying punch that it’s a shame we have to talk about “Netflix editing” again, that lack of cutting that makes even a pretty smart and dense thriller play like a New Orleans funeral.

The film, co-scripted by star Benicio del Toro, starts slowly, slows down for a few more complications, meanders a bit and finds its way to a fine finish that’s a bit late arriving.

It’s a tale of murder, infidelity, drugs, real estate and a cop with a past on the case. A willowy young real estate agent (Matilda Lutz) is murdered. Her handsome but older real estate tycoon beau (Justin Timberlake) is Suspect One.

But Det. Tom Nichols (del Toro), a Philly cop new to the suburban Scarborough P.D., and his partner (Ato Essandoh of TV’s “The Diplomat”), his captain (Eric Bogosian) and his department have a lot of other possibilities thrown in front of them as this case progresses.

There’s the dead woman’s “artist” not-quite-ex-husband (Karl Glussman). The mother of our real estate tycoon (Frances Fisher) gives off strong dragon lady vibes. This nut the real estate hustlers screwed over (Michael Cameron Pitt) figures in their deliberations as well.

So do a lot of other variables in this slow-to-unravel tale, one that throws in an “It was just a dream” red herring — one among many — and shifts points of view several times, even as though is the dogged, perhaps-tainted Nichols that is our protagonist here.

They went for a bit of stunt-casting that really pays off — re-pairing del Toro with his “Excess Baggage” (1997) co-star Alicia Silverstone, who plays the earthy, sexy and brassy cop wife who gives as good as she gets from her detective husband.

There’s also a kitchen renovation that isn’t going well, a real estate business that has some off-the-books tax tricks that add an extra whiff of corruption, some back and forth over clues, DNA and a misidentified vehicle of interest, all set against a cop culture that sees a lot of off-hours socializing amongst the Blue, with the cynical, callous detectives placing cash bets on suspects and the sage Nichols noting to his new partner that “overtime” in police work is for “milking,” if you need the extra money.

That casts a shadow over Nichols’ self-rightous lecture to a subordinate “uniform” at a crime scene.

“When you walk through that front door, there’s a jury of twelve watching you.”

There’s something about Nichols that has his captain insisting he’s “clean” to the chief, that has one cop-obsessed suspect declaring “This is your chance to redeem yourself,” that makes us wonder about that opening act hand wound that Nichols walks onto the crime scene with.

Justin Timberlake was born looking “guilty.” But maybe that’s just meant to throw us off.

Just guessing here, but the poker-faced, iguana-eyed Oscar-winner del Toro, of “Traffic,” “Sicario” and “The Usual Suspects” is as good an inspiration/explanation for the title “Reptile” as any. Still, the script is littered with self-serving, scaly characters up and down the line.

Music video director Grant Singer, who makes his feature directing debut and co-wrote the script, gets a lot of misdirection plot threads in a story almost overstuffed with characters, some of whom we’re meant to underestimate, some we fear and others we fear for.

Love del Toro in this part, love seeing the sparks he sets off (as a jealous husband) with Silverstone, and it’s great seeing the under-utilized Pitt, Fisher and Bogosian in chewy roles for a change.

But Singer has of now no feel for pacing, and Netflix has made it some sort of streamer policy that they don’t push newcomers or screen legends like Scorsese, Spike, Cuaron and Campion to deliver brisk, tight cuts with pace and urgency. This lizard drags for the first 90 minutes and only really gets up to speed in the third act.

It’s perfectly watchable, but let it play on during the bathroom breaks and search for snacks. It’s so slow you probably won’t miss anything vital, not until the third act.

Rating: R, violence, drug content, profanity

Cast: Benicio del Toro, Alicia Silverstone, Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian, Frances Fisher, Tom Nowicki, Ato Essandoh, Karl Glussman, Dominick Lombardozzi, Matilda Lutz and Michael Carmen Pitt.

Credits: Directed by Grant Singer, scripted Grant Singer, Benjamin Brewer and Benicio del Toro. A Netflix release.

Running time: 2:16