To Catch a Killer (2023)
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A talented but troubled Baltimore cop is recruited by the FBI to profile and track down a prolific sniper.
The story
As Baltimore celebrates New Year's Eve, an unknown marksman from a high-rise apartment kills 29 people across various locations before detonating explosives. FBI Agent Geoffrey Lammark leads the investigation and recruits Eleanor Falco, a Baltimore Police Department officer, to join his team as a personal liaison. The duo discovers the shooter is highly trained and has left no clear links to his sniper's nest. After the shooter strikes again at a mall, killing security guards and shoppers, Lammark and Falco must navigate a complex investigation involving radical threats and a series of violent escalations.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
During Baltimore's New Year's Eve, a sniper kills 29 people from a high-rise and uses explosives to cover his tracks. FBI Agent Geoffrey Lammark recruits BPD officer Eleanor Falco to help profile the shooter. They discover the marksman is well-trained and uses an antique rifle. The shooter strikes a mall, killing guards and shoppers after a confrontation over stolen clothes. A subsequent investigation into a radical caller leads to a shootout where a team member is injured, and Lammark is fired by the Bureau. Eleanor continues the search unofficially and discovers that a man named Dean Possey, a former slaughterhouse worker, is the shooter. She and Lammark track him to rural Maryland. Dean's mother helps them, but Dean kills Lammark with his rifle. Dean's mother then takes her own life. Dean enters the house and, believing Eleanor is empathizing with him, asks her to execute him. When the sheriff arrives, Dean restrains Eleanor and begins shooting deputies. Eleanor manages to subdue him by biting his neck, causing significant bleeding. Dean eventually commits suicide by police gunfire. Afterward, Eleanor is offered a senior analyst position in exchange for her silence regarding the Bureau's malfeasance, which she accepts after securing a heroic acknowledgement and a pension for Lammark's husband.
- Original title
- Misanthrope
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 119
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Damián Szifron
- Writers
- Damián Szifron · writer; Jonathan Wakeham · writer
- Cast and characters
- Shailene Woodley · Eleanor Falco; Ben Mendelsohn · Geoffrey Lammark; Jovan Adepo · Jack Mackenzie; Ralph Ineson · Dean Possey; Rosemary Dunsmore · Mrs. Possey; Richard Zeman · Frank Graber
- Genres
- crime thriller
- Themes
- Justice; Empathy; Violence; Bureaucracy
- Tone and mood
- Gritty; Suspenseful; Somber
- Setting
- Baltimore and rural Maryland during the present day.
- Premise and plot tags
- Police Procedural; Serial Killer; Sniper; FBI Investigation
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 43 · scale: 100 · review count: 11
- Production trivia
- Damián Szifron's English-language debut.; Filming took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada instead of the originally reported Atlanta.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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