Maxance Vincent
If I had two nickels for every time Adam Scott played an alcoholic author with daddy issues in a 2026 film, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s really weird that it happened twice, with Hokum and now The Whisper Man. Regardless of a likely unintentional repetition, Scott is the best part of James Ashcroft’s adaptation of Alex North’s book of the same name, which starts out promising but progressively jumps the shark as the story gets more nonsensical and downright problematic.
The story’s core has been treated a thousand times before in film and television, and the conceit of a cop attempting to extract information from the serial killer they put in prison is obviously inspired by the work of Thomas Harris (most specifically Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs). It won’t take long for you to put two and two together as former police detective Peter Willis (Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement to help his son, Tom (Scott), find his child, Jake (Acston Luca Porto), who has been abducted by a copycat of a serial killer dubbed “The Whisper Man.”
The real Whisper Man, Frank Carter (Michael Keaton), will spend the rest of his life locked up, but Peter knows that a person currently copying his kidnapping and killing patterns can’t simply be inspired by what was publicly unveiled. After all, there were elements that the police specifically withheld from the press in an attempt to catch the killer, which the modern-day Whisper Man knows. It doesn’t help that, by revisiting the case that permanently tarnished his relationship with his family, Peter has to mend the fractures he caused with his son. Tom deeply resents his father, whose obsession with the killer caused him to leave his familial life behind, but the two have to work together if they want to see Jake alive again, before it’s too late.
For a while, the film stays in familiar territories while offering a thoughtful genre exercise with solid performances. Ashcroft and screenwriters Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer know they’re not reinventing the narrative and thematic wheel, but it almost doesn’t matter when it’s this engrossing and visually compelling. The opening scene of detective Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan) finding a body that sets the film’s events in motion is evocative enough to hold our attention, and the looming presence of Keaton’s Frank Carter, à la Hannibal Lecter, imbues a terrifying atmosphere to the movie, even when the veteran actor isn’t on screen.
This is by far Ashcroft’s biggest strength, capitalizing on Keaton’s aura while barely showing The Whisper Man before Peter finally musters up the courage to go talk to him in prison. That initial scene where the two are discussing is so good that one wishes the entire movie was a simple drawn-out conversation between the two. There’s a history there that doesn’t need to be fully expressed, but we recognize that this isn’t the first time both characters have talked to one another and that they carry deep psychological tissues from their last encounters.
Frank exploits Peter’s vulnerabilities as if it’s nothing and attempts to rile him up, but he isn’t biting. It’s a battle of wills that showcases exactly why De Niro and Keaton are still among the very best in the business. The latter certainly seems more inspired by Brian Cox’s performance as Hannibal Lecter (in Michael Mann’s Manhunter) than by Anthony Hopkins, with a soft-spoken, almost friendly tone that permeates even the most menacing lines. However, one can even see that his turn as the Vulture in the MCU certainly helped him mold what an uncompromising –and calculating – antagonist could look like, especially one who has spent almost thirty years in a cell.
The smartest thing about the screenplay is how Ashcroft doesn’t need to explain much of what’s on screen. The actors are so talented on their own that they can illustrate the years of pain they’ve endured, either in the eternal rivalry between Peter and Frank, or in the fractured paternal relationship between Peter and Tom. Scott’s performance is just as good as his career-best turn in Damian McCarthy’s Hokum, which admittedly had a bit more to chew on than in The Whisper Man, but he certainly makes the most of his newfound dramatic skills that are far more interesting than any of his comedic roles.
Some will say the film is underdeveloped, but I found myself engrossed in the pieces I picked up simply by listening – and seeing – the actors interact with one another. One can only look at Robert De Niro’s sullen eyes to understand that he has been living a life full of regret, that Peter’s biggest success has actually brought him more pain, misery, and loneliness than he had hoped. One particular image – deftly composed by cinematographer Peter Deming – represents exactly this: Peter sits in his grandson’s bedroom, back slouched, wondering what led him to this moment, when his son resents him so much that he never wanted to tell Peter about Jake’s existence until he was abducted. The shadow that looms over the bed is so striking that it never leaves our memory, even during its ridiculously inert climax.
That whole denouement, as telegraphed as it seems, is the main reason why The Whisper Man doesn’t fully cohere. When we realize who the killer ultimately is, the revelation is obvious, but the emotional catharsis that occurs is limited. Then, numerous decisions are made that are either completely nonsensical given the screenplay’s context or downright bizarre, which I’m not sure sat right with me. That said, discussing those specific choices would spoil key scenes that I’m sure Netflix would like reviewers not to mention when discussing the film. Let’s just say this: these succession of scenes leave a bad taste in the mouth and tarnish what was an otherwise engaging, albeit familiar, thriller.
Still, there are worse Netflix films out there, and as far as The Whisper Man is concerned, it contains enough elements to hold our attention until the end. One wishes, however, that the child acting were more solid and the ending less ridiculous than what we ultimately had. If you are looking for another solid De Niro vehicle, though, you won’t be disappointed, and Keaton’s performance is just as good. A shame how it all ended up, because out of all the Netflix films released so far this year, The Whisper Man had the most promise…
SCORE: ★★1/2
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