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To Catch a Killer

To Catch a Killer

Thriller · Crime · Drama · 2023

Baltimore. New Year's Eve. A talented but troubled police officer is recruited by the FBI's chief investigator to help profile and track down a mass murderer.

Movie details

To Catch a Killer

“A city at the center of chaos. A detective with special skills. A madman testing her limits.”

2023 Thriller · Crime · Drama 1h 59m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Baltimore. New Year's Eve. A talented but troubled police officer is recruited by the FBI's chief investigator to help profile and track down a mass murderer.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over To Catch a Killer?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Rope

Rope

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Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

The Devil's Own

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Crime · 1997

Frankie McGuire, one of the IRA's deadliest assassins, draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, forces Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a lifetime of murder.

Farewell, My Lovely

Farewell, My Lovely

Crime · 1975

Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.

Kiss the Girls

Kiss the Girls

Thriller · 1997

Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Crime · 2014

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

Suburbicon

Suburbicon

Thriller · 2017

In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.

Cruising

Cruising

Crime · 1980

When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, rookie cop Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.

Mindhunters

Mindhunters

Mystery · 2004

Trainees in the FBI's psychological profiling program must put their training into practice when they discover a killer in their midst. Based very loosely on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

Solace

Solace

Thriller · 2015

A psychic doctor, John Clancy, works with an FBI special agent in search of a serial killer.

Colombiana

Colombiana

Action · 2011

After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents' death.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Damián Szifron

Written by

Damián Szifron · Jonathan Wakeham

Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley

Eleanor Falco

Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn

Geoffrey Lammark

Jovan Adepo

Jovan Adepo

MacKenzie

Ralph Ineson

Ralph Ineson

Dean Possey

Richard Zeman

Richard Zeman

Frank Graber

Dusan Dukic

Dusan Dukic

Krupp

Jason Cavalier

Jason Cavalier

Marquand

Court is in session

Put To Catch a Killer on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.