A good find for detective lovers (8 photos + 1 video)

It's been a while since there have been quality detective stories on the big screens. Like “Silence of the Lambs” or “Zodiac”. Gloomy police stations, sleep-deprived cops in wet beige raincoats, coffee circles on police reports, a detective who does not retire because he promised his inconsolable mother to catch “that bastard”... It seems that the new film “The Misanthrope” will appeal to fans of such aesthetics. We invite you to see what might interest him.





By the way, this is a rare case when our localizers returned the original name. The film was originally called “The Misanthrope,” but American distributors decided that it was too complicated for the average viewer, and replaced it with the faceless “To Catch a Killer.”

1. Shailene Woodley



She plays the main role of wayward police officer Eleanor, who, despite her unsuitable character for investigative work, is invited to help the FBI capture a particularly dangerous and unpredictable criminal. To catch a misanthrope killer, you need to think like a misanthrope. That is why the Bureau turns a blind eye to the girl’s aggressive and antisocial character.





Shailene Woodley is only 31 years old, but her career is the envy of many Hollywood veterans. She became famous 11 years ago by starring in Alexander Payne’s tragicomedy “The Descendants,” for which she received a prize at Cannes for best young actress.



Then there were the main roles in the three-part teenage dystopia “Divergent” and the film adaptation of the once insanely popular book among young people “The Fault in Our Stars”.

Shailene Woodley also etched her name into television history by playing the lead role in one of the HBO hits “Big Little Lies.” There she is no longer a teenager, but a mother.

It is interesting to observe the acting evolution of the actress. And it’s doubly interesting to see the star of the film “The Fault in Our Stars” in the role of a gloomy detective, because Shailene Woodley does not at all look like an aggressive misanthrope.

2. Ben Mendelsohn



But Mendelssohn would have played the misanthrope perfectly. But in the film he is Detective Joffrey Lammark. He leads the hunt for “pure evil” and it is his idea to hire Eleanor.

Mendelssohn (by the way, it has been officially proven that he is not a descendant of the composer Mendelssohn) is a professional movie villain. This Australian actor became famous for his role as Director Krennic in the only normal Star Wars film of the modern era - Rogue One.

Noticing Mendelsohn's negative charm, Spielberg cast him as an antagonist a la Jeff Bezos in Ready Player One. But you shouldn’t think that the actor has become a hostage to the image of “Glavgad”. He also has outstanding detectives on his resume, for example, the main character of “The Outsider,” the HBO series based on Stephen King.



We can say that the presence of Ben Mendelsohn in the cast creates additional intrigue - what if he ends up being “pure evil”?

3. Director Damian Sifron



Argentine director Damian Sifron came to Hollywood thanks to “Wild Tales.” Before “Stories,” he mainly directed Latin American series. But not soap operas, but about policemen and thieves.

“Wild Tales” made a lot of noise in 2015. The film was recognized as the best by British film academics, became “the best Latin American film of the year” and was nominated for an Oscar.

Hollywood loved the new Tarantino from Argentina so much that it seemed they were even going to entrust him with the Hollywood remake of his own black comedy about revenge. But for now, they let Sifron film a project with Hollywood actors based on his own script in the genre of criminal investigation that is familiar to him.

Sifron calls himself a genre film director who does not produce purely genre films. He says that he takes images from life, mixes them with his favorite genre techniques, and the result is always unpredictable. Among his favorite films are “The Godfather” and “The French Connection”.

4. Criticism



In short: critics praise the actors and the tense plot, but criticize only the stupid original title: “To Catch a Killer.”

“The director delves into our world of psychosis and guns, creating a compelling exploration of the psychological dislocations on both sides of the law. By mixing the realism of the hunt for a criminal with somewhat theatrical police showdowns, as well as naturalistic murder scenes, Sifron creates an unusual atmosphere that holds the audience’s attention until the very end.” ( Source )

“For some reason, “The Misanthrope” is being advertised as the “Silence of the Lambs” of our time, and the heroine Shailene Woodley is being advertised as the new Clarice Starling. There is no point in comparing these films. “The Misanthrope” is in itself, with its own unique characters, a fascinating story, and excellent acting by Woodley and Mendelsohn. Such plots are often found in TV series, but they are rare in modern cinema. So it’s great to see a gritty police crime drama on the big screen.” ( Source)

“A spectacular picture that can keep viewers in suspense from beginning to end. Throughout the two hours that the film runs, you will constantly be wondering what will happen next.” (Source)