'Boston Strangler' Review: A gripping story of 2 journos' mission to break notorious serial killer case
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hulu has been digging deep to deliver some great content pieces that not only keep you stuck to your seat but also educate you about some of the most notorious crimes in history. 'Boston Strangler' was released on Hulu earlier today and has created quite a buzz for its compelling storytelling and exceptional performances by Carrie Coon and Keira Knightley in the lead roles. The movie is inspired by a real-life story of a serial killer 'The Boston Strangler', the name given to the murderer of 13 women in Boston, Massachusetts during the early 1960s. The case was never solved and became one of the most talked about and covered stories of all time.
This notorious case brought two exceptional journalists to the spotlight and this movie is made to recognize the two women who, through thick and thin broke the case. Prior to this, a movie was made back in 1968 with the same name - 'The Boston Strangler', which didn't highlight the story of the journalists, but had more of a "getting in the mind of a serial killer" vibe to it.
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One fine journalistic story
So the perspective of this film was purely from the eyes of two journalists Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), where Loretta covers the lifestyle sector of the newspaper 'Record American' and Jean covers more serious news, having more experience than Loretta. When Loretta is tired of writing about Lifestyle, one day she hops on an infamous case that changes the course for both women. When Loretta makes a connection between three murdered women, her boss decides to take a chance on her and has her write it up. Soon, Jean and Loretta are leading the press investigation into one of the most heinous murderers in Boston’s history. The story speaks about the sexism in America in the early 1960s and changes the course of its plot from being two women who are covering basic news to them being the only two people who were the center of the story, and several steps ahead of the all-male detectives and rival male reporters. Women empowerment is also the theme of the movie, where there are many instances involved, one where Loretta's husband supports her life as an investigative journalist and takes care of their children. While the story has been done and dusted several times, it still doesn't bring anything new to the table, except the fresh perspective of narrating the story of Loretta and Jean.
A familiar sense of David Fincher's 'Zodiac'
This movie almost feels as if 'Zodiac' and 'Mindhunter' came together to create a third film. When you see this movie, you'll get a sense of familiarity with the plot revolving around the Netflix hit-show 'Mindhunter' and an urgency similar to the plot of 'Zodiac'. But, there is no David Fincher here. Instead, we have Matt Ruskin ('City of Dead Men'), who directed and wrote the film. Although, there is no comparison between a young director like Ruskin and the filmmaking god Fincher, but the movie lacks something, and it isn't the plot, but the soul. The movie finally takes off in the second half, but still doesn't give the feeling of excitement and instead gives off major documentary vibes. Unlike many other remarkable crime movies, 'Boston Strangler' doesn't live up to the mark and fails to develop that tension caused by a certain crime attack, whereas the close-ups of a choking victim fail the film and add no real sense of fear.
'Boston Strangler' was a mere idea
It seems like 'Boston Strangler' just picked up the same ingredients that were used to create 'Zodiac' and put them all together, but failed miserably. The movie has everything from intense music to always hiding the face of the killer, from keeping the palette grey to prove that the world is unfair and everything isn't what it seems to scenes cutting off to actual murders. The production didn't even flinch and gave the reporters the typical urge to solve a crime by putting their personal lives in jeopardy. To create a movie like Fincher, 'Boston Strangler' picked out a winded-up crime genre and took out the most used-up narrative. But, all-in-all, if you haven't heard about the Boston Strangler story, this movie will be the best to shed some light on the case while educating you about an infamous era.
'Boston Strangler' is now available to stream on Hulu starting March 17.