‘The Whisper Man’ Review: Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan and Adam Scott in Netflix’s Twisty Airport Paperback Serial-Killer Procedural

The producing muscle of Anthony and Joe Russo likely played a part in the recruitment of such an accomplished cast for Netflix ’s The Whisper Man . James Ashcroft’s thriller may feel more driven by content than craft, but this adaptation of the bestselling novel by British crime author Alex North is solidly entertaining, if not quite as bone-chilling as its plot about a copycat serial killer preying on preteen boys suggests. In that sense, it doesn’t approach the accelerating visceral intensity of the New Zealander director’s 2021 debut Coming Home in the Dark , but as streaming fodder, it gets the job done. Related Stories TV Inside the Halloween Horror Nights 'Stranger Things' House and Epic Effort to Bring the Duffer Brothers' World to Life Movies Re-Watching 'Avengers: Endgame' Is "Required" to Understand 'Avengers: Doomsday,' Joe Russo Says

Adapted by Ben Jacoby and It co-screenwriter Chase Palmer, the movie jumps right in with a police search through a semi-rural New Jersey area led by Detective Amanda Beck ( Michelle Monaghan ), looking for Neil Spencer, a boy abducted from his home the night before. No trace of Neil is found, but the dead body of another missing boy turns up. The Whisper Man The Bottom Line Smoother in the set-up than the wrap-up but carried by a strong cast. Release date : Friday, Aug. 28 Cast : Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Acston Luca Porto, Will Brill Director : James Ashcroft Screenplay : Ben Jacoby, Chase Palmer, based on the novel by Alex North Rated R, 1 hour 53 minutes

Around the same time, widowed crime writer Ted Kennedy ( Adam Scott ) relocates from the Jersey shore to the small town where he and his late wife grew up, hoping the change of environment will benefit his traumatized eight-year-old son Jake (Acston Luca Porto). But Jake seems ill at ease in the spacious old home his dad rented (sharp work from production designer Anastasia White), seeking comfort in the presence of an imaginary friend he brought along in the move.

Meanwhile, Det. Beck finds eerie similarities between the recently discovered corpse and those of victims in a trail of killings from some 25 years earlier, committed by a murderer who became known as the Whisper Man for the way he beckoned his prey through their windows at night. The creepy nursery rhyme associated with those crimes has lingered in gruesome local folklore. But the culprit, Frank Carter — Netflix has requested that reviews not reveal the name of the unbilled actor playing him — remains behind bars, serving a life sentence.