To Catch a Killer

An honest, bleak, chilling and awesome crime drama/thriller with a touch of the 80s from the director of Wild Tales. Awesome acting! Shailene Woodley plays a likeable, determined and intelligent policewoman recruited by FBI Commander Ben Mendelsohn, who literally shines! He steals all the scenes for himself with his acting and great dialogue and is a joy to watch and listen to. From the opening minutes, the film won me over to its side. It takes place during New Year's Eve in Baltimore, where the main villain starts killing random people with a sniper rifle and starts a decent chaos in the streets, followed by a pretty intense and atmospherically dense FBI manhunt, that made me feel that this is what honest police work is supposed to look like. We follow the two protagonists as they try to catch the main scumbag, practically never leaving the screen, and I liked that. No unnecessary side characters, no extra filler and plot lines, just honest investigative work by smart cops who step by step build a profile of the main enemy. The killer also has an interesting background from his childhood (anyone who has peeked at serial killers knows that most are driven by some sort of childhood trauma), and he has army skills, so this is no Dahmer, but more like a deranged Breivik chasing a body-count! The film also has a decent pace, it holds the audience's attention well, it's atmospherically dense and has some action (a shootout in a mall!), people scream a lot and I have very positive feelings about it. I haven't seen a better crime film in a while. 8/10. (17.05.2023)

More of a statement about the state of contemporary society than a pure crime story. The main quality of To Catch a Killer lies in its very skillful portrayal of contemporary America. It's about the two perspectives presented and getting out of the reality of two jobs, a shitty rental and debts into the world of swingers, signatures and pats on the back. The investigative line is bleak and plainspoken with a great Ben Mendelsohn and a make-up free Shailene Woodley, whose ordinariness as a smart girl who had bad luck in her childhood and less than ideal living conditions fits beautifully into the setting. The hunt for the killer is thrilling and the strange ending makes you think, something you don't see often these days. Szifrón's direction is precise and with a slightly better script this would have been an excellent film. Great cinematography, good music. A very pleasant surprise. (23.05.2023)

The movie started so well that I let my guard down and eagerly anticipated a genuine thriller experience. However, my excitement soon turned to disappointment as the plot unfolded. It became evident that the film was yet another platform for supposedly socially conscious activism, sidelining the action-packed suspense in favor of spotlighting various agendas. I was genuinely irked by how the atmosphere shifted for the worse after the gripping introduction, leaving behind quality suspense. It just wasn't the same anymore, and I'm certain Shailene Woodley wasn't to blame. No, it was the screenplay that began accumulating logical inconsistencies. As a result, my rating didn't go over three stars, which is sad considering the movie's fantastic beginning. (10.11.2023)

It starts off with a very original and promising setup, with the prospect of a good and dark detective story. However, it gradually veers into psychological drama and loses its momentum. Personally, I could have done without the gloomy passages delving into the self-harm history of the main character, which seem to contribute to the overall atmosphere of "nobody understands me, and I'm troubled," but it didn't work for me. Thumbs up for the relatively uncensored mass shooting and the highly pessimistic yet realistic ending. Thumbs down for the unfinished details that could have elevated the movie. Nevertheless, I still consider it decent, and decent gets a solid three :) (30.06.2023)