Boston Strangler – Film Review

Reporter Loretta McLaughlin becomes the first person to connect a series of murders and break the story of the Boston Strangler. She and Jean Cole challenge the sexism of the early 1960s to report on the city’s most notorious serial killer.

There’s something about a good old-fashioned murder mystery historical drama that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, as weird as that may sound. This is one of those movies that would be absolutely perfect for all of those people who can relate to what I just said and wish to cuddle up near a fire and watch a scary mystery unfold right before their very eyes.

Boston Strangler may not be the best of the bunch by a long shot, but it’s nevertheless an exceptionally entertaining film that shows just how much talent writer/director Matt Ruskin has. Prior to working on this movie, Ruskin has only ever worked on a few projects, nearly all of which seem like low-budget college films.

It’s exciting that this up-and-coming talent has now been given the chance to direct a major motion picture, and I’m glad that he did because it definitely shows immense promise for him. Boston Strangler is a zigzag whirlwind of a movie that makes you feel like you’re losing your mind right along with the film’s main character Loretta McLaughlin, portrayed absolutely flawlessly by Keira Knightley in one of the year’s best performances by far.

The vast majority of the film follows Loretta and friend/fellow reporter Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) as they work together on the case of the Boston Strangler. At first, the case doesn’t seem like it’s going to be all that hard to crack, but with each piece of the puzzle they solve, a new mystery is revealed.

At times, this can be a little bit frustrating because the film sometimes feels as though it’s not following a singular, linear narrative structure and as a result, certain plot beats can come across as jarring when they weren’t supposed to. These puzzle pieces are always intriguing, but they’re not always the most fun to solve.

The real heart of this movie is the relationship between Loretta and Jean and how both women do different things to solve this case. It’s a film that is sure to be a crowd-pleasing piece of entertainment for the masses and a solid entry in the murder mystery historical drama subgenre for film enthusiasts. So, either way, it’s a win-win.

Although it’s certainly nothing completely innovative, Boston Strangler is an intriguing historical drama film written and directed impressively well by Matt Ruskin and featuring a terrific lead performance from Keira Knightley.