True crime is huge right now, from podcasts to movies and series all over streaming networks. So when Hulu announced the release of their Boston Strangler movie, it piqued the interest of True Crime fans everywhere. The well-known case is one that is full of interesting facts and has the potential to make a great movie. Unfortunately, the almost two-hour film is anything but interesting, and actually drags the story out, without any actual thrills or interest involved.
Boston Strangler follows reporter Loretta McLaughlin (Kiera Knightley) as she unravels the case of the serial killer plaguing the area. No doubt true, the movie focuses more on the fact that she continually meets opposition at work, at home and everywhere she goes because she is a woman who is working and not tending to her children. But her powers of deduction, while constantly disregarded, paired with another female journalist Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) is the perfect pairing to help solve the case.
The opposition the women both had and their tenacity in their work in the 1960s is enough for an interesting story, but it seems the movie just uses it as a subplot and a way for the movie to push the story along. Another point of failing overall. The story of the Boston Strangler is interesting enough, and having another interesting story point barely utilized seems like the writers didn’t quite know how to put this one together well.
While it was refreshing to see a true crime story that didn’t show the brutalization of the victims over and over again, it seems that the overcorrection in this direction leaves viewers with a slow and boring story to watch. There are not enough details to keep you engaged, or wanting to continue to watch the movie. And quite honestly, the story seems to drag and the movie feels like its well over two hours long.
If you’re looking for answers, the movie kind of creates its own even though case files haven’t fully decided them, so take that part of the story (and most of the rest of the movie) with a grain of salt. Boston Strangler is now streaming on Hulu, but the movie isn’t going to be on your top-watched list. It just seems to be lacking something in the storyline or delivery of an interesting case.
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About Boston Strangler
From 20th Century Studios and award-winning writer-director Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”) comes “Boston Strangler,” a true-crime thriller about the trailblazing reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders of the 1960s. The film stars two-time Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley (“The Imitation Game,” “Pride & Prejudice”), Emmy® nominee Carrie Coon (“Fargo,” “The Gilded Age”), Alessandro Nivola (“Amsterdam”), David Dastmalchian (“Dune”), Morgan Spector (“Homeland”), Emmy Award nominee Bill Camp (“The Night Of,” “The Queen’s Gambit”), and Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper (“Adaptation”). Written and directed by Matt Ruskin, the film is produced by Ridley Scott (“The Martian”), Kevin J. Walsh (“House of Gucci”), Michael Pruss (“American Woman”), Josey McNamara (“Promising Young Woman”), and Tom Ackerley (“I, Tonya”), with Michael Fottrell (“The Fate of the Furious”) and Sam Roston serving as executive producers.
