Boston Strangler Parent Guide

Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) has been stuck writing articles about fashion and reviewing housewares for Boston’s Record American newspaper, but that’s about to change. A series of horrifying murders have taken place across the city, leaving several women dead – all of whom were strangled with a silk stocking that was then tied in a bow around their necks.

Concerned by the seemingly lackadaisical police response to the violence, Loretta petitions her editor, Jack Maclaine (Chris Cooper), to put her on the story. The 1960’s aren’t a golden age for female reporters, and Jack is reluctant to assign a young woman to a crime story. Eventually he relents - on the condition that she partner up with a more experienced reporter: Jean Cole (Carrie Coon).

As more women are killed, the female reporters become increasingly frustrated with the dismal ineffectuality of local law enforcement and begin hunting for suspects themselves. Although they manage to find some likely candidates, it seems like each one has an excuse or an alibi which precludes their involvement. It’s going to take more than that to deter these journalists, and they’re confident that they will find a man who can’t explain away his connection to the crimes. They just have to hope that, when they find him, they can convince the police to listen to a couple of female reporters.

As films about violent serial murder go, Boston Strangler is pretty tame. There are no on-screen strangulation scenes, but we do hear murders off-screen and crime scene photos show obvious signs of violence. The only murder actually depicted on screen is a prison stabbing. There’s also less profanity than you might expect, although the handful of sexual expletives is still enough to earn an “R” rating. Glossing over some of the realities of the crimes makes for more comfortable viewing, but I think the script conceals too much of the killer’s activities. Without that kind of immediacy, the crimes lose some of their urgency and this makes the investigation feel slower and less dramatic. Knightley and Coon both turn in solid performances, but the film’s desire to highlight the difficulties of being a female journalist frequently overshadows the violent murder spree taking place in the background. This scatters the movie’s focus and I can’t help but feel that the filmmakers are burying the lede here.

I’m also not a fan of the liberties this script has taken with the historical accounts, moving dates and characters around to suit their story rather than making a story out of the alleged facts. And, without spoiling anything, I found the solution offered by the protagonists to be unlikely. The film has an interesting premise and a good cast, but at the end of the day, it needs more to remain exciting and compelling.