The producing muscle of Anthony and Joe Russo likely played a part in the recruitment of such an accomplished cast for Netflix’s The Whisper Man. James Ashcroft’s thriller may feel more driven by content than craft, but this adaptation of the bestselling novel by British crime author Alex North is solidly entertaining, if not quite as bone-chilling as its plot about a copycat serial killer preying on preteen boys suggests. In that sense, it doesn’t approach the accelerating visceral intensity of the New Zealander director’s 2021 debut Coming Home in the Dark, but as streaming fodder, it gets the job done.
Adapted by Ben Jacoby and It co-screenwriter Chase Palmer, the movie jumps right in with a police search through a semi-rural New Jersey area led by Detective Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan), looking for Neil Spencer, a boy abducted from his home the night before. No trace of Neil is found, but the dead body of another missing boy turns up.
The Whisper Man
The Bottom Line
Smoother in the set-up than the wrap-up but carried by a strong cast.
