Spoilers thought this was a Christmas movie.
This one’s another film I missed from my wishlist back in the 2016 Fantasia Film Festival finally getting a watch. In all honesty, I found it a little underwhelming as a horror film but it still has an engaging… Ok, wait. Let’s not give away the entire thing in one go. First, let’s go to a small town in the middle of winter and see what we can find.
I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016) is directed by Billy O’Brien who wrote it with Christopher Hyde. It is based on the novel of the same name by Dan Wells. John Wayne Cleaver (Max Records) is a silent young man with possible sociopathic tendencies that he keeps in check. He helps her mother April (Laura Fraser) and Aunt Margaret (Christina Baldwin) with the family’s mortuary business. He often talks and helps out his elderly neighbor Mr. Crowley (Christopher Lloyd). The small town is gripped with fear as a serial killer seems to be stalking people in the dark. That pique’s John’s curiosity as he feels uniquely suited to know the killer’s motives and possibly even track him down. To do that he must drop some of the rules that he has set with his therapist Dr. Neblin (Karl Geary) to keep his darker thoughts in check.
The film has a sort of twist reveal that is already given away in the trailer. There’s no sense in hiding it, but rather than completely spoiling it let’s just say it’s from the supernatural realm. Yes, I know that might be a turn off for quite a few people. It was for me the moment I realized that was the direction of the film. I dare say that it could have worked without it and perhaps even make it slightly better, but I have not read the book from which it’s based.
It works to a point. I would like to say I’m on the fence here, but the truth is that our young protagonist being conflicted about his sociopath tendencies is an engaging character that could have had more development. What he’s up against doesn’t feel as grounded. Now, I was not expecting a realistic portrayal of a serial killer in film, but given the plethora of characters introduced it seemed like this film was establishing a larger universe. To add supernatural lore to it feels overloading it. Obviously this is a book adaptation and not everything can be explained in a single film. I think a series would work better for the material.
Recommended with reservations. Although it focuses on the main mystery which is the murders, it does managed to develop the character of its protagonist a little. You can feel a potential for a larger story to be told. That being said, I’d say both Max Records and Christopher Lloyd both do amazing work, specially Lloyd who’s playing against type. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and it doesn’t have any real scares but at least it lacks the fake jumpy ones. Worth a watch if you’re in the mood to explore more mellow horror.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 