| Director: | Damián Szifron |
| Music: | Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography: | Javier Juliá |
| Editing: | Damián Szifron |
| Distributor: | Vertical Entertainment |
| Runtime: | 119 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $3.1 million |
To Catch a Killer is a 2023 American crime thriller film directed by Damián Szifron and written by Szifron and Jonathan Wakeham. It stars Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Jovan Adepo and Ralph Ineson. In the film, a talented but troubled young Baltimore cop is recruited by the FBI to help profile and track down a murderer. The film marks Szifron's English-language debut.
Vertical Entertainment gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States on April 21, 2023 where it received mixed to positive reviews.
On New Year's Eve in Baltimore, a sniper begins killing random revelers at a variety of rooftop parties, using firework explosions as cover. Beat cop Eleanor Falco is among those who respond. Police identify the shooter's location as an apartment, just before it explodes. Eleanor rushes to the exit of the building, where residents are streaming out, and helps capture video of potential suspects leaving the scene. SWAT clear the apartment, and determines that no one has died there.
At the police headquarters, the manhunt commences, led by Special Agent Lammark of the FBI. Lammark meets Eleanor in the break room, and is impressed by her perceptiveness. The next morning, Lammark meets with Eleanor for coffee, where he explains he wants her, along with fellow agent Jack McKenzie, to work directly with him as a liaison with the Baltimore police during the investigation. They both accept.
At the Bureau, McKenzie explains that the apartment was uninhabited and there is nothing to indicate any of the building staff or residents committed the crime. Another agent reveals that the explosion was caused by a grenade paired with a deliberate gas leak, and that the rifle used for the shooting is a US Army weapon, over 40 years old. This leads Eleanor to voice the suspicion that the shooter obtained the weapon from a stockpile of retired arms.
Lammark, Eleanor, and McKenzie travel to the morgue of the shooting victims where they are interrupted by news that Baltimore police believe they have the shooter surrounded, and hurry to the scene. Upon arriving, they are presented with very thin evidence that a troubled local youth perpetrated the crime. Tactical police enter the youth's apartment, and cause him to jump out the window, killing himself.
Returning to the Bureau, Lammark, Eleanor, and McKenzie interview three painters who painted the empty apartment, years prior. Afterward, Lammark reveals that he has learned that Eleanor once applied to join the FBI, but failed her psychological evaluation. Eleanor explains that in the past she suffered from various mental health issues and addictions, including self-harm, and joined the police as a means of taking her life back.
The next day, the killer commits a mass shooting at a mall. Through security cameras, the team observes the killer and sees him stash a shirt in a bathroom trash can, which is subsequently emptied by cleaning staff. While Lammark meets with the mayor, Eleanor and McKenzie chase down the shirt at the landfill.
Back at the Bureau, new forensic clues come to light. Under pressure from the Mayor's office, Lammark engages in a risky strategy of showing security footage from the mall on live television, and encouraging members of the public to call with information. Someone posing as the killer calls, and police trace the call, and follow the caller and three allies to a pharmacy. A shootout ensues, leading to the death of the caller's three allies. Interrogation reveals he's simply a prank caller. In the aftermath, Lammark is relieved of his post for his failure to apprehend the killer, and the associated collateral damage.
Eleanor goes home, contemplates self-harm, but ultimately comes to a realization about the story told by one of the painters. She confronts him, and he reveals that he had subcontracted a man fitting the description of the killer for the paint job and that he once worked for a slaughterhouse. Eleanor and Lammark travel to said slaughterhouse, where they confirm the killer's name: Dean Possey, the son of a former shooting instructor for the US Rangers.
Eleanor and Lammark visit Mrs. Possey, his mother. She claims to have not seen him in years, but reveals that his father accidentally shot him in the head as a child, leading to a lifetime of social isolation. Dean is revealed to be hiding in the shed out back when he shoots and kills Lammark. Eleanor convinces Mrs. Possey to reason with Dean, but when he refuses to listen, Mrs. Possey kills herself. Dean enters the house and he and Eleanor discuss his misanthropy. He asks Eleanor to kill him in his sleep, but before she can, police arrive and he knocks her unconscious. He drags her into a secret tunnel below the shed.
Backup arrives, led by McKenzie. Dean kills multiple officers before blowing up the shed. Eleanor attempts plead with him, drawing him close enough for her to bite his neck, seriously wounding him. He escapes out the back. She subsequently escapes and rejoins McKenzie. The police track Dean and he commits suicide by cop.
Later, Eleanor interviews with the mayor and his associates. They buy her silence on the true circumstances of Dean's death in exchange for a position at the FBI and posthumous honors for Lammark. She walks to work.
In May 2019, Shailene Woodley joined the cast of the film, then titled Misanthrope, with Damián Szifron directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jonathan Wakeham. Woodley also produced the film,[2] which is Szifron's English-language debut.[3] In October 2019, it was announced Mark Strong was in talks to join the cast.[4] In December 2020, Ben Mendelsohn joined the cast.[5] In January 2021, Jovan Adepo was cast.[6] Ralph Ineson was revealed as part of the cast in March 2021.[7]
In May 2019, it was reported that filming would take place in Atlanta that year.[2] Filming took place instead in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from January 27 to March 10, 2021.[8]
In November 2022, Vertical Entertainment acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[3] It was retitled from Misanthrope to To Catch a Killer, and released in theaters on April 21, 2023.[9]
To Catch a Killer, with a limited theatrical release, grossed $3.1million, in international territories.[10]