Damián Szifron’s ‘To Catch A Killer’ Crashes and Burns

Last month, a trailer had been released for Damián Szifron’s “To Catch A Killer,” a genre exercise that is influenced by the visual stylings of David Fincher, and there’s even a hint of Villeneuve’s “Prisoners” here as well. It’s a grim movie.

The film stars Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn. It’s set in Baltimore on New Year’s Eve, a talented but troubled police officer (Woodley) is recruited by the FBI’s chief investigator (Mendelsohn) to help profile and track down a mass murderer.

Last November, Vertical Entertainment had picked up Szifron’s film, originally titled “Misanthrope”, a psychological thriller from the Argentinian director. Then it was retitled “To Catch A Killer.”

All of this to say, it’s finally been released in theaters where it will die a very quick death. The reviews have been atrocious and for good reason. What’s most disappointing about this clunker is that it’s so well-directed, but its plot so trivial and derivative.

“To Catch A Killer” is currently rotten at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 44 on Metacritic. They’ve barely screened this one for press, which is why I went to see it this earlier this afternoon.

Szifron’s has officially entered a sophomore slump. Hopefully he rebounds with his next film.

Szifron’s excellent “Wild Tales” was one of the major highlights of Cannes 2014 and a breakout arthouse hit. I had heard that “To Catch A Killer” had been submitted for last year’s edition of the festival, but it was ubiquitously absent from the official selection. Hmm …