Kevthewriter survived I Am Not a Serial Killer.
Warning: This review contains spoilers
For this Halloween themed version of Netflix and Chill, I’m going to be looking at the independent thriller, I Am Not a Serial Killer starring Max Records (the kid from Where the Wild Things Are) and Christopher Lloyd.
This movie is good but not great. At its best, it’s an interesting character study about a kid who has sociopathic tendencies but doesn’t want them. We really get to know the main character, John, and find out throughout the movie how his sociopathic tendencies are effecting his way of life yet why, despite his illness, he tries his best to not let these tendencies take over and become a serial killer himself.
But there is a plot: in the movie, John finds out his elderly neighbor is a serial killer and, during the course of many months, tries his best to stop him. And the serial killer is played by Christopher Lloyd, giving one of the best performance he’s given in years if not decades! He gives off a very creepy vibe, like there’s just something about the guy you can’t trust, and he complements Max Records nicely, whose also great as John.
But, even though the movie is an interesting character study and has two great central performances, there are a few things holding it back from greatness.
The first is pace. This movie is really slowly paced and it feels like there are large sections of the movie where barely anything happens which causes the movie to feel like it drags.
The supporting characters, though they are acted just fine, do also feel a bit underdeveloped. For example, John has a best friend who he breaks up with at one point…and there relationship is never re-kindled or mentioned again. There’s also a potential love interest whose romance arc with the main character doesn’t really get any development.
But the biggest problem is the ending. At the end, it turns out Christopher Lloyd was a black, gooey monster all along. Problem with this? The movie is grounded in reality for the most part so to have a fantastical element comes off as really out of place here! It would’ve made more sense if he was just a regular man who was a serial killer! I mean it would be like if Roger Rabbit didn’t have any cartoon characters in it but was about, I dunno, human actors instead yet Judge Doom still ended up being a cartoon character! If they did that, it would make no sense and it makes no sense here either!
This really tone-deaf and dumb ending does threaten to throw this movie out of whack but, despite that and other flaws, the movie still has an interesting main character and (until the ending) villain. It also could’ve used tighter pacing and more fleshed out supporting characters but I’d still recommend giving it a watch because, while it could’ve been better, it’s still a decent movie.