‘Overall, it’s watchable’ is really the best I can say about Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Famke Janssen, Cush Jumbo and Naomi Battrick’s latest crime/mystery, The Postcard Killings.

Based on a book by Liza Marklund and James Patterson, I was hoping for a truly thrilling serial killer movie experience. What director Danis Tanovic delivers instead is a story where the killer is not quite what one might expect, which ordinarily would have been a great thing. Only I didn’t quite buy into the story of the killer, their motivations, let alone completely believe that they were even fully capable of the crimes in question.

Part of the problem is that the film’s edit didn’t serve the story well overall. For example, there are one or two moments in Tanovic’s film that could have been truly memorable in a good way. Particularly in terms of the shock and surprise they could have induced. Except, the way these moments were captured just made it all fall almost completely flat.

There were admittedly a couple of suspenseful scenes where I held my breath in anticipation. Nevertheless, The Postcard Killings is still not a film I’d insist you watch unless you absolutely must. Some of the acting was OK at best. As for the story edit, casting and direction, if they’d been better executed, one can only imagine the result we’d have had.

Lastly, it’s really got to be time for me to re-watch Se7en (1995). That film is serial killer movie excellence. I can tell that you agree.

Happy Film Loving, 

G