To Catch a Killer – A Subversive Crime Drama (Early Review)

To Catch A Killer resembles the love child of director Denis Villeneuve, cinematographer Roger Deakins, and composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. This is easily one of the highest compliments that can be given to this film and also essentially serves as the ingredients for the film Sicario, creating its ominous tone and atmosphere. However, while this film takes inspiration from those mentioned figures, it creates its own space in a genre that has told countless similar stories in an even more similar fashion, albeit, less successfully.

To Catch A Killer focuses on the efforts to catch a mass killer in Baltimore, MD by the FBI. Through this lens, lead investigator Geoffrey Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) creates a local team of law enforcement, including Baltimore Officer Elanor Falco (Woodley), to catch the killer before another mass murder event occurs while pressure continues to mount for results. Falco possesses an untapped talent to analyze profiles that match the killer’s description, making her a valuable and trustworthy asset to the team. Meanwhile, when she wasn’t on the case, she is constantly hounded by previous demons that hindered any career advancement. Lammark serves as an adept leader who fights battles on multiple fronts all while simultaneously keeping his team and local police on task in order to find the killer. As the case progresses, the two realize that to catch the killer, the only ones they can trust are each other as they quickly identify forces beyond them moving in to manipulate their investigation to further their ulterior motives.

The film approaches these murders in a very straightforward manner by showing the mass shooting occur, the police investigating potential leads as they attempt to build a profile of the gunman with very little to understand about him. However, where the film truly shines is through its unwavering focus on the unseen political machine that silently motivates the investigation to satisfy government needs or future careers. It is something often spoken of films from this genre but rarely explored with a sober lens, often times resulting in sensationalized monologues or over-the-top political figures that only exist as plot devices. In this film, these figures are ever-present, often moving against the very investigators that they placed in charge all in the name of political gain, creating more setbacks and missteps for the investigation itself. The film not only captures these inefficiencies, it communicates with audiences so they can see and understand the cycle of ineptitude going so far that it can be applied to almost any current situation in the news. In short, it’s frustrating because it is so accurate and for large stretches of the film, the focus is subtly turned towards this machine rather than the actual search for the killer. This might be a deterrent for some but it proves so much more impactful as the final act approaches.

What cannot be understated enough is its cast. Standouts such as Mendelsohn and Woodley are welcomed additions who save characters that could’ve easily fallen into genre tropes. Patiently developing Lammark and Falco, they methodically added layers that not only contributed to emotional investment within audiences in a way that forces them to consider how they would approach some of their decisions. The presumed killer played by Ralph Ineson, is outstanding in his precious few moments on screen. The way the film creates its never-ending narrative maze with the killer at its center being the ultimate prize, only for it to arrive there and take a wickedly unexpected, yet natural, turn is remarkable.

In the end, To Catch A Killer might resemble films that have occupied a similar genre space and therefore might appear skippable to some. However, the film feels attuned to this preconception, which motivates it all the more to subvert expectations by choosing to focus on the invisible hand behind law enforcement when handling a case of this national magnitude, ultimately resulting in a conclusion that seems so grounded in reality it is frustrating nonetheless necessary. And in the aftermath of it all, it feels as if the message it is most intent on conveying is that the machine will always continue to turn. Those that learn how to use it and not be crushed are sometimes offered the chance to make a difference with it.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Critics w/o Credentials

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