#MovieReview: To Catch a Killer is solid but unremarkable

To Catch a Killer is an initially interesting and slickly-made thriller that is let down by a poor last 15 minutes.

Directed by Argentina’s Damián Szifron (behind the excellent Wild Tales from 2014) in his English-language debut, the film is yet another take on the current cultural obsession for serial killers.

It is an odd moment in the world, where mass shooters and killers draw protests in real life but currently provide the best antagonists on television – at least when judged by which shows and movies get watched.

Serial killer fetishism is nothing new of course, just ask the thousands of people who sent letters to Ted Bundy, but it now seems that every second show or movie that draws a fanbase includes a psycho.

And Killer is no different, opening on a genuinely terrifying but virtuosic sequence where Baltimore is shot up by an unknown gunman on New Year’s Eve.

The shooter’s rampage ends up killing dozens of people and naturally draws a city-wide manhunt and the input of federal investigators.

This is all well-trodden police procedural ground, replete with textbook characters like the ambitious but troubled young detective, a hard-edged FBI agent and meddling political fixer.

But Killer does try to interrogate the system which may have helped to create the mass murderer, though it never goes far enough to earn that ambition.

Spoilers to follow

After the killer terrorises Baltimore, FBI special investigator Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) is called in to lead the hunt.

He sees something in junior officer Eleanor (Shailene Woodley) – who of course has a difficult past that could give her insight into the murderer – and later asks her to join his team.

Together they try and chase the scent of the nameless killer, facing a series of stumbling blocks along the way caused by poor decision making and bad advice from the FBI leadership.

Eventually the duo find the man who is mentally ill and appears to have been lost to the system.

But the system is not properly explained and leaves the viewer with a tonally uncertain ending that parades as intentionally ambiguous.

Some of the actions taken by characters in the final sequence are genuinely ludicrous and waste a solid if not excellent first half.

Szifron has clear chops and elevates the movie beyond a B-movie CSI ripoff, but it is not enough to earn a full recommendation.

Rated 16 (but recommended for 18 and up) for scenes of Intense Violence, Disturbing Content and Language.
3/5.

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