43
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 65Film ThreatSumner ForbesFilm ThreatSumner ForbesThere’s no shortage of entertaining moments in To Catch a Killer, but that won’t stop audiences from wanting more. Other than the performances from Woodley and Mendelsohn, there’s not a lot to grab onto, which would help distinguish this from countless other entries of this ilk.
- 60VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThe worst thing you can say about To Catch a Killer is that it’s so adeptly executed in all departments that one is disappointed it ends up feeling a tad generic. It’s engrossing, sometimes exciting, yet never fully free from an overall sense of derivation.
- 59Paste MagazineAurora AmidonPaste MagazineAurora AmidonTo Catch a Killer positions itself as a manhunt feature intent on saving the day. It has all the right pieces: A young misfit cop, a twisted serial killer, two equally killer lead actors. It’s just missing two crucial pieces: Suspense and coherence.
- 50The Film StageEthan VestbyThe Film StageEthan VestbyIn general, the film is a losing battle between loftier aspirations and genre requirements.
- 40Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonScreen RantPatrice WitherspoonWoodley and Mendelsohn do everything they can to convert the weak story to something worth watching.
- 40Austin ChronicleJenny NulfAustin ChronicleJenny NulfSzifron and his co-writer Jonathan Wakeham play it too safe, creating an aggressively stale procedural that doesn’t pack the gut punch it wants to deliver.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreCrackling scenes mix with clunkers, clever twists meet cliches and its all a hash when it comes to justifying the “team” set up in this mass shooting spree thriller To Catch a Killer.
- 38RogerEbert.comMarya E. GatesRogerEbert.comMarya E. GatesUltimately, To Catch a Killer blames all of the gruesome violence it depicts on the perpetrator’s mental health and offers only a surface-level exploration of the system that failed him.
- 25IndieWireSamantha BergesonIndieWireSamantha BergesonIf a tired retelling of a serial killer thriller premieres in theaters and nobody sees it, did it actually happen? Unfortunately, yes.