‘Boston Strangler’ Review: Keira Knightley Shines as Journalist Advocating for Murdered Women
16.03.2023 - 16:47
/ thewrap.com
To be a male serial killer of women one must be a misogynist. “Duh,” you’re probably saying, and yet we’re surrounded by sexy serial killer media, from Zac Efron as Ted Bundy to whatever Ryan Murphy is up to these days.
It’s refreshing, then, that the historical crime drama “Boston Strangler” centers on a female journalist as she tracks that eponymous killer while avoiding glamorizing or sexualizing his actions.Keira Knightley plays Loretta McLaughlin, a dogged journalist and mother of three who sees a way out of covering the lifestyle beat when she connects three similar murders. As she seeks justice for a growing tally of victims, her own womanhood is an inextricable part of the story.
The film begins in Ann Arbor, 1965, where a woman living alone is strangled to death. Her body is posed, nylon stockings tied around her neck in a sadistic, giftwrappy bow.
We jump three years earlier, and 800 miles east, to Boston, where Loretta has been tasked with reviewing a new toaster. She begins to wonder if a series of local strangulations are connected and begs her editor (Chris Cooper, “American Beauty”) to let her work on it, pro bono.Loretta’s hunch is right and she is suddenly launched into one of the biggest stories in the city.
Jean Cole (Carrie Coon, “The Leftovers”), a veteran investigator, is tasked with making sure Loretta doesn’t screw things up. As Loretta follows the story with Jean at her side, she’s waylaid by the boys’ club culture of newsrooms and police stations, the inherent vulnerability of her sex, and her own husband (Morgan Spector, “The Gilded Age”).Though not quite perfect, “Boston Strangler,” the latest from writer-director Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”), makes an admirable addition to its often
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