The Whisper Man
Robert De Niro and Adam Scott headline a routine crime thriller which is as prosaic as it is unpleasant.
Sins of our fathers: Acston Luca Portom and Adam Scott
Image courtesy of Netflix.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
There’s a rather grim children’s verse at the heart of this new Netflix thriller: “If you leave a door half open/Soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken…”, culminating in the chilling words, “if you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.” The verse, like many a real-life tale of terror, is perhaps one of the more credible things in this conventional, by-the-numbers genre piece. The poem, along with the narrative, is drawn from the 2019 novel of the same name by Alex North. North is quite an accomplished writer of crime fiction, as is his protagonist here, a novelist called Tom Kennedy (Adam Scott), who is so wealthy that he can afford a massive house big enough to hide a spare room in the basement wherein lives a squatter. In addition, Tom Kennedy is oblivious to the cost of his utility bills as he keeps the lights on in his house even when it’s a sunny day outside. One shouldn’t notice these things, but there is a leaden conformity to The Whisper Man, directed by the New Zealand filmmaker James Ashcroft, that encourages the mind to wander.
The opening does not bode well. It all kicks off with an aerial drone shot of woodland which, as the drone glides down through the branches, reveals a line of police officers searching for a body. It’s not long before they discover a corpse, that of a young boy with a T-shirt wrapped over his head. He has been decomposing for about a month. But it’s not the boy they have been looking for. Meanwhile, our friendly drone glides across a New Jersey freeway and we cut to the inside of a car where a father (the aforementioned Tom Kennedy) is expounding some essential exposition to his young son: “You know, your Mom always wanted us to move back to the town where she grew up in. You’ll be going to the same school she did, right?” To dispel our disbelief at the falseness of the dialogue, purely intended for our own edification, Tom’s son Jake (Acston Luca Porto) counters: “You’ve said. Like a thousand times…” We are also quickly informed that Tom’s wife – Jake’s mother – has recently passed away, prompting Tom to give his son a fresh start.
There is a rhythmic predictability between these scenes and the shots of Robert De Niro’s retired detective Peter Willis meticulously and lovingly preparing his supper, and then the search of Detective Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan) for evidence pointing to the whereabouts of another missing boy. There is a paedophile on the loose and all clues point towards a seriously frightening individual called Frank Carter (Michael Keaton), although he has been locked up in East Jersey State Prison for twenty years. But there has to be a connection, right? Well, of course. The director James Ashcroft has assembled some first-rate actors for this routine caper, which feels like it may have already been filmed many times before. Not that anybody is bad – we’re talking De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott and Michael Keaton here. It just feels as pre-packaged as an Ikea coffin. And with the constant rain-on-demand of New Jersey and the subject matter of infanticide and fathers failing to be there for their children, it’s not just a depressing watch, but a genuinely unpleasant one.
Cast: Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Michael Keaton, Acston Luca Porto, Will Brill.
Dir James Ashcroft, Pro Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot and Michael Disco, Screenplay Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer, from the novel by Alex North, Ph Peter Deming, Pro Des Anastasia White, Ed Christopher Tellefsen, Music Colin Stetson, Costumes Kasia Walicka Maimone, Sound Rich Bologna.
AGBO-Netflix.
113 mins. USA. 2026. UK and US Rel: 28 August 2026. Cert. 15.
