It took me a few minutes to work out what movies I was reminded of when watching the new trailer for Netflix's The Whisper Man, but I made it there in the end. The first, and most impressive, is David Fincher's Zodiac, but I also think there's more than a little of Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners in the mix too. That's quite a cocktail.
The film, based on a best-selling novel (which is always a good sign plot-wise) takes a look at a fictional serial killer who seems to target children, at least as far as the trailer makes clear. Having been taken down years ago, he's somehow made it out of prison to start another rampage, and that brings generations of law enforcement into the game.
Adam Scott is one of the current kings of streaming at the moment, largely thanks to his absolutely explosive popularity in Severance, and he's here playing a far more regular joe – Tom Kennedy, who's unlucky enough to have his son kidnapped by the Whisper Man after his re-emergence.
Or is it just bad luck? Tom's father, played by Robert De Niro, happens to be the retired detective who put the killer behind bars years ago, which paints a target on his back. Tom's forced to patch things up with his distant parent in a desperate appeal for help. Meanwhile, in the actual police force, Michelle Monaghan plays the current detective assigned to the case, full of grit, determination and insight.
That makes the film look like a three-hander of great actors, but the most striking thing about the trailer, to me, is how grim the tone is. It's full of dim lighting and rainy nights, and looks oppressively colour-graded. That's what brings Zodiac and Prisoners to mind – two films about crime sprees that leave you wondering if there's any good in the world by the time they're over.
Hopefully, Netflix's story might have a slightly more optimistic ending than those two movies, but if it can get close to the same levels of quality, it'll be doing outstandingly well. The film drops on the streaming platform on 28 August, so there's well over a month left for the hype to build further.
