Netflix has just added "gripping" serial killer thriller to watch this weekend

If you want a twisty thriller to watch over the long weekend, then Netflix has you covered, as The Whisper Man is now streaming. Starring Robert De Niro and Adam Scott, this is ideal viewing for the bank holiday.

The film is an adaptation of Alex North's 2019 novel of the same name, and follows a widowed crime writer whose eight-year-old son is abducted. He goes to his estranged father, a retired police detective, for help with the matter.

Furthermore, a connection between the kidnapping and the decades-old case of the Whisper Man is discovered. Given that the Whisper Man is thought to be a convicted serial killer, it remains to be seen how they are linked.

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Directed by James Ashcroft from a screenplay by Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer, the crime thriller is now available to view on Netflix having been released on the streamer this morning.

In addition to De Niro and Scott, the stacked cast for the film includes Michael Keaton, Michelle Monaghan, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Will Brill and Acston Luca Porto. Anthony and Joe Russo, known for their work with Marvel, serve as producers.

Speaking about the film with Tudum, AGBO's chief creative officer Angela Russo-Otstot billed it as a "gripping thriller" that was a "poignant and complex story of father and sons", adding that Ashcroft's direction was "remarkable".

Though not widely reviewed by professional critics at the time of writing, The Whisper Man looks to have impressed people, with six of the seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes being considered Fresh.

Several critics have likened it to detective thrillers from the 1990s, with FandomWire writing: "The Whisper Man's pacing, atmosphere, tone and strong procedural engine keep audiences hooked until its unusual, poignant finale."

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"A worthy successor to serial-killer thrillers that studded the 1990s, The Whisper Man is the rare film adaptation of a contemporary murder-mystery that doesn't merely go for the bloodiest, broadest strokes of the story," noted Midwest Film Journal.

TheWrap was also full of praise, writing: "Oh, how we long for an era when we could take films like The Whisper Man for granted, instead of thanking our lucky stars that an above-average serial killer thriller with a respectable cast was made at all."

The Whisper Man is now streaming on Netflix.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.