Director James Ashcroft has seen the majority of the 1990’s slew of serial killer movies, if his new film, The Whisper Man, is any indication. Adam Scott stars in this new thriller alongside screen legend, Robert De Niro and Michelle Monaghan.
This roller coaster ride of a movie knows how to duplicate the formula for a serial killer picture to the greatest degree possible. Who cares if you’ve seen this type of plot before when the direction is this skillful and the actors are this excellent?
The Silence of the Lambs, Kiss the Girls, Se7en and Copycat are just some of the pictures that The Whisper Man seems to be paying homage to, and the new film is certainly up to the task of competing with the quality of the majority of those pictures. It’s not quite on the level of The Silence of the Lambs, unfortunately.
Michael Keaton, one of the biggest actors of the 1990’s, appears in The Whisper Man as Frank Carter, an imprisoned psychopath who steers our characters in the film towards discovering who is responsible for kidnapping crime writer, Tom (Scott)’s young son, Jake (Acston Luca Porto).
Robert De Niro’s aging cop character, Peter Willis, is pivotal to the success of the new Netflix thriller. De Niro gives his role the right kind of earnest edge that makes the part come to life, and he and Scott share some intriguing moments together, playing off of each other’s theories and hunches about the psychopath at large who has abducted Jake.
Remember 1995’s Copycat where the imprisoned Harry Connick Jr. character tries to steer Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver in the right direction to find the copycat killer? The Whisper Man tries to duplicate the sense of dread that Copycat conjured up so well when it was originally released.
Why does The Whisper Man succeed almost as much as those 1990’s classics? It’s so creepy that it will leave an imprint on the viewer’s mind with its horrifying themes centering around a perverted psycho who our heroes must bring down in the name of justice.
Without giving too much away, there’s poetic justice at the end when the movie reveals the identity of its psycho, and he meets his match in a creative and satisfying way.
Michelle Monaghan, as Amanda Beck, the central detective on the case, has never been better. She plays this role with the right amount of solemn intensity that makes us follow Amanda wherever she goes, and the viewer will see if she can survive the wrath of the killer as Amanda picks up clues and pieces together evidence, one step at a time.
This wouldn’t be the type of movie that it is if our characters didn’t find themselves in grave danger. Scott and De Niro play their parts accordingly as their characters dance with the devil in more ways than one over the course of the picture.
One upsetting moment has a suspect graphically killing himself on-screen as Amanda, Tom and Peter find themselves one step closer to catching the real psychopath.
Will the real killer please stand up? You can bet that he will, and the movie doesn’t skimp out on originality where the identity of the killer is concerned.
The whole concept of “The Whisper Man” character is creepy beyond a reasonable doubt with a smooth talking serial killer from hell played well by – well, that information is to be held strictly confidential in this review.
When Se7en came out, reviewers were asked to withhold the identity of the killer in the reviews. In fact, the same should be done for viewers who see The Whisper Man. Giving away its secrets will detract from enjoyment of the film by other viewers.
While there are a number of frightening moments in the new picture, the talented young performer, Acston Luca Porto, has a good screen persona that manifests itself in the material seamlessly, making the picture that more intense as a suspense thriller.
There are a few twists at the picture’s climax, one involving the psychopath and a key character from his past. These twists are good, but sometimes the movie feels like it throws in too many surprises as it reaches its complex and disturbing last scenes.
The Whisper Man is nothing less than a tightly edited suspense thriller that will appeal to pretty much any and all fans of the 1990’s serial killer movie genre. It’s that good, for the most part, although the movie loses a point or two for recycling almost every trick in the 1990’s psycho movie handbook. Still, this is an impressive new effort for the way it carefully builds suspense.
There are three great performances at the center of The Whisper Man, but it is the presence of one of the 1980’s and 1990’s biggest stars, Keaton, which all but steals the film whenever the veteran actor appears on the screen.
The Whisper Man will keep viewers thinking and looking over their shoulders, even after the very last scene of the picture.
The Whisper Man is now streaming on Netflix.
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Thomas Duffy
Thomas Duffy is a Critics Choice member who has written film reviews for most of his life, starting at age 11 when he crafted his first full length movie critique on the film, "Roxanne," a Cyrano story featuring Steve Martin. As a result of that review and other movie obsessive writing, Thomas was awarded a creative writing award in sixth grade. Thomas is the proud author of nine books, including two highly acclaimed novels, "To Never Know" and "Social Work." Thomas can be found on X (formerly known as Twitter) or at a New York City movie theater watching the latest hit or independent movie. You can also run into him at Tribeca or at the New York Film Festival.