Plot: When his eight-year-old son is abducted, a widowed crime writer looks to his estranged father, a retired former police detective, for help, only to discover a connection with the decades-old case of a convicted serial killer known as “The Whisper Man.”
Review: James Ashcroft’s The Rule of Jenny Pen was one of the better psychological thrillers of the last few years, with outstanding performances from Geoffrey Rush and the great John Lithgow. Ashcroft’s follow-up is the new Netflix original film The Whisper Man, based on the best-selling novel by Alex North. Produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, The Whisper Man boasts an impressive cast led by Robert De Niro and Adam Scott alongside Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Michelle Monaghan, and Michael Keaton in a familiar serial killer story with some unexpected twists. While it does manage to keep things entertaining from beginning to end, The Whisper Man is an underwhelming effort from Ashcroft, even though it still shows some of the solid filmmaking he brought to Jenny Pen. Even with De Niro and Scott doing good work, the movie cannot pull together elements that worked better on the written page, which end up being confusing on screen.
In a role that looks physically similar to his turn in the horror movie Hokum, Adam Scott plays another bearded, depressed writer. Tom Kennedy (Scott) is a widower who moves with his young son, Jake (Acston Luca Porto), to the town where he grew up. The town is also the home to a former serial child killer known as The Whisper Man, who inspired urban legends. The Whisper Man was also caught by Tom’s father, retired detective Pete Willis (Robert De Niro), who is still haunted by the horrific crimes. When a slate of copycat killings occurs, Detective Amanda Beck enlists Pete’s help. Then, Jake is kidnapped by the killer and pits Tom, Pete, and Amanda against a ticking clock to find him before he ends up another victim. As the three investigate various leads, including a collector of macabre mementos from murderers and the imprisoned Whisper Man himself, the truth begins to reveal itself as the story unwinds with multiple twists, heading towards its endgame.
Having not read the novel, I was anticipating that The Whisper Man would have more of a supernatural bent. The creepy idea of the titular killer and the haunting nursery rhyme that serves as his calling card could have set up an intense and truly scary thriller, but instead, this ends up more of a traditional mystery with all the trappings of a classic whodunit. There is a roster of suspects we are meant to think could be the new Whisper Man, but in a consistent fashion, we get a reveal as to why this person or the next is not who we are looking for. I will give writers Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer credit for keeping you guessing for most of the movie, but by the time the truth is revealed, the movie has already abandoned the unique angles that were beginning to set it apart from other offerings in the genre. There is young Jake’s imaginary friend who is hinted at being more than imaginary, as well as the creepy presence of the title killer sliding his hand through the mail slot seen in the trailer. There are also the unsettling taped messages the killer sends for each of the victims. But, as much set up that each of these elements has, none are used to their full potential and end up as wasted opportunities.
The broken, distant relationship between Robert De Niro and Adam Scott affords both actors some good scenes together, but the majority of their time is spent with their characters investigating on their own. De Niro spends a lot of time with Michelle Monaghan, who gets one of her better non-White Lotus roles in recent years. De Niro plays his character with minimal emotion but still makes for a more compelling presence than in his last several roles. The best work here comes from Adam Scott, who seems to have found a dramatic niche since starring in Severance, but even his screen time feels somewhat limited. Michael Keaton, Hamish Linklater, and Owen Teague are also excellent, but The Whisper Man often feels like a collection of characters inhabiting a shared space rather than existing together. It is hard to explain without spoiling the twists in store as you watch the movie, but the guttural experience of what happens in The Whisper Man is one of the strongest things it has going for it. Once the shock wore off, the movie left me less impressed, especially as I dug into the logic of what happened versus what should have taken place.
While I haven’t read the novel, I have read some of Alex North’s other books, and the author has some trademarks that come through in this screen adaptation. Writers Ben Jacoby (The First Omen) and Chase Palmer (It, The Alienist) tried to keep some of the devices from the novel intact in their screenplay, but they feel underused or just confusing. The ending of the film feels especially out of place, while it was clearly meant to leave audiences with their jaws dropped and contemplating what it could mean. Director James Ashcroft tries to use his A-list cast of actors to their fullest and puts them through some physically intense sequences, but the formulaic nature of the story prevents The Whisper Man from rising above the mediocre offerings of the serial-killer genre. The Whisper Man has flashes of potential and even comes close to echoing some hallmark moments from The Silence of the Lambs, but cannot pull it together into anything more than a lukewarm, derivative effort. It is a shame because the three leads all do some of the better work they have done in recent years.
The lack of much marketing for The Whisper Man should give you some indication of Netflix’s confidence in the finished product. Compared to the massive budgets of The Gray Man and The Electric State, The Whisper Man won’t suffer as much of a financial loss as other AGBO productions, but it could manage to eke out some success as audiences tend to eat up serial killer stories, especially when they can stream them at no additional cost. I started out liking The Whisper Man far more than when the credits began to roll, but I still see a lot of potential in James Ashcroft as a filmmaker. The Whisper Man does not hold up nearly as well as other iconic killer thrillers, but it is also not nearly as bad as the other streaming originals. Some decent performances and good pacing will garner this movie some good streaming numbers, but it is otherwise another middle-of-the-road original that is not good enough for the talent involved.
The Whisper Man premieres on August 28th on Netflix.
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