The Postcard Killings is the upcoming crime thriller from Bosnian director Danis Tanovic, who won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film back in 2001 for No Man’s Land. It’s based on the bestselling 2010 novel ‘The Postcard Killers’ that was co-written by Swedish author Liza Marklund and American author James Patterson. Marklund also co-wrote the script for the movie alongside Andrew Stern (Disconnect).
The official plot synopsis is as follows:
NY Detective Jacob Kanon’s (Jeffery Dean Morgan) world is destroyed when his daughter and son-in-law are brutally murdered in London. Unable to sit idly by and do nothing, Jacob travels to London get the answers he needs. As he learns of similar heinous murders happening across Europe – each preceded by a postcard sent to a local journalist (Cush Jumbo – The Good Fight) – Jacob is in a race against time to stop the killings and find justice for his little girl.
Let’s take a look:
Plot and dialogue-wise it all just feels a bit familiar, doesn’t it? There’ve been so many crime thrillers featuring serial killers staging elaborate murders over the years – from countless novels and all manner of movies and TV series – that once you’ve read or watched enough they all start to blend together, and that’s the impression I’m getting here. The plot is basically a mish-mash of the familiar and not particularly surprising in its execution, but there’s still a core of entertainment to be found.
The pleasure in this sort of movie is understanding the motive behind the killings and then catching the killer (or killers), and the trailer does a great job in not spoiling any of that. I also like Jeffrey Dean Morgan as an actor, and it seems like he’s putting in a good performance here as the grieving father slash serial killer whisperer.
It won’t set the world on fire, but it should keep you entertained for a couple of hours. What do you think?
The Postcard Killings is due for release in the US on 13 March.
Last Updated: February 25, 2020
Kenn Gibson
February 26, 2020 at 10:23
doesnt look too bad, will probably end up on a streaming service at some point, will watch it then.