To Catch A Killer (a.k.a Misanthrope), Nominee of the Tiantan Award and First Hollywood’s Commercial Film by Academy Awards Winning Director Damián Szifron, is Opening in Theaters on July 28
Damián Szifron, director of the Wild Tales that won Academy Awards and nomination for the Festival de Cannes, and received a high rating of 8.8 on Douban.com, is releasing his new film To Catch A Killer (also known as Misanthrope) in theaters nationwide on July 28. The film was shortlisted for the Tiantan Award, competition section of the 13th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), and the latest film by the Argentine national treasure director in ten years since the Wild Tales. Damián Szifron was also appointed as a jury member of the Competition section of the 76th Festival de Cannes. The film stars Shailene Woodley, leading actress of the Divergent series, Ben Mendelsohn, leading actor of the Ready Player One, The Dark Knight Rises, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Together with the release date announcement, the poster and trailer featuring the theme of “to catch a mysterious killer” are posted.
Poster of the To Catch A Killer
▍FBI agent hunts for the murderer that commits indiscriminate shooting spree on the eve of New Year
The film To Catch A Killer depicts a mysterious killer who commits mass shooting of the celebrating crowd from a skyscraper afar in a downtown district of America, There are 29 deaths resulting from fatal gunshots. But no shell casings, fingerprints or forensic evidence could be found at the crime scene. And there is no trace of the murderer at all. Three days later, another shooting spree takes place at a sizable shopping mall. A dozen of citizens and security personnel are killed. The SWAT team are annihilated by the killer with grenades.
Poster of the To Catch A Killer
FBI’s chief investigator Lammark and his favorite apprentice and young police officer Eleanor are commissioned to investigate the shootings. However, the state government and local police stations all try to take the credit, and they even launch SWAT operations that Lammark strongly opposes. The operations lead to mass deaths, but Lammark has to take the blame. It seems utterly absurd and out of control, but full of unexpected twists. As Lammark comments, “Truth doesn’t matter when it comes to power.” The absurd evil world is to blame for the devil killer. When Lammark and Eleanor are in despair, Eleanor finds a key clue that leads her to the abyss of the evil world.
Poster of the To Catch A Killer
▍Damián Szifron, director of the Wild Tales that won Academy Awards and nomination for the Festival de Cannes, and received a high rating of 8.8 on Douban.com, directs a Hollywood film for the first time that offers in-depth discussion about people’s choice in the context of America’s hierarchy.
The To Catch A Killer was shortlisted for the Competition section of the 13th BJIFF. Director Damián Szifron flew more than 30 hours from Argentina, half a world away, to Beijing to participate in the BIFF and interacted cordially with Chinese film fans and audience. He also visited the Mutianyu Great Wall, and attended the BJIFF Closing & Awards Ceremony.
Director Damián Szifron at the 13th BJIFF
According to Damián Szifron, different from traditional suspense action film, the To Catch A Killer focuses on deeper exploration of society and humanity. Personally, he believed in “karma”, which happens to coincide with the ancient philosophy of the Oriental. In his opinion, the mass shootings in America didn’t take place for no reason. The evil world of hegemony and injustice presented in the film reflects the director’s philosophical views.
Poster of the To Catch A Killer
The film tries to depict how people make choices under heavy stress.
Outlier police officer Eleanor is a natural detective, but she’s anti-social because of childhood trauma. She never flatters or yields to her superior or power, nor helps others do evil things. Therefore, she’s only running errands at a police station. That doesn’t change until she meets senior officer Lammark, who keenly notices that she’s able to put herself in his shoes, and get his misanthropy through his behavior as they both are “hurt by family members who were supposed to love them”, “cut from happiness and joy”, and “forgetting what it’s like to be loved”.
Poster of the To Catch A Killer
However, Eleanor makes completely different choices about living in the world from the murderer.
The murderer’s anger explodes like a volcano, resorts to violence to fight against violence, and chooses killing spree in the evil world. As the director explains, while killing others, the murderer destructs himself. Eleanor chooses to keep her anger to herself, moves forward in the evil world, and save others with her goodwill while saving herself. In such an evil world, she remains sober-minded in choices, and powerful.
Poster of the To Catch A Killer
The poster presents how the leading role Eleanor and the SWAT team are drawing their guns out when they are about to confront the mysterious killer.
The trailer presents random mass shootings that take place in America, where every shot finds its mark and takes death tolls, and the killer disappears without leaving any traces. The marginal police officer and FBI’s chief investigator encounter absurd twists and attacks from the killer when tracking him down. Are they able to crack the code of devil in the end?
Meet-and-greet of the To Catch A Killer at the 13th BJIFF
The To Catch A Killer is to release in theaters nationwide on July 28. Let’s go to cinema, and find out secrets of humanity behind the indiscriminate killing sprees.