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Movies Like Woman of the Hour on Netflix: Anna Kendrick has been working in Hollywood for over two decades, mainly known for her performances in comedy-dramas like “Pitch Perfect” and her Oscar-nominated turn in Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air“. Now, with “Woman of the Hour,” she steps in as a director of a dark, psychological thriller. The film revolves around Sheryl Bradshaw, a young aspiring actress from the 70s, who entered a reality television show to find her next date. She was supposed to choose someone from the three male contestants trying to woo her.

One of these suitors was serial killer Rodney Alcala, who charmed Sheryl enough to select him as her date. As the film follows her journey, it offers glimpses into Rodney’s past encounters with his victims and survivors. It alternates between these different stories to give us a sense of his personality...

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Woman of the Hour is a crime thriller drama film directed by Anna Kendrick from a screenplay by Ian McDonald. Based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala, the Netflix film is set in the late 1970s and it follows the story of The Dating Game show contestant Cheryl Bradshaw who aspires to become an actress until she crosses paths with a serial killer on the dating show. Woman of the Hour stars Kendrick in the lead role with Daniel Zovatto, Autumn Best, Kathryn Gallagher, Pete Holmes, Kelley Jakle, and Tony Hale starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the thrilling story, a terrifying serial killer, and compelling characters in Woman of the Hour here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Extremely Wicked,...

Keira Knightley has been captivating her audience ever since she played a small role in the Star Wars franchise. She went on to find her breakthrough role in Bend It Like Beckham and soon became the actress on top of everyone’s favorites list. Keira Knightley’s most recent performance was in Matt Ruskin’s Boston Strangler where she starred as Loretta McLaughlin, the reporter who broke the news about the serial killer murdering thirteen women in the 1960s.

Keira Knightley in Bend it Like Beckham (2002) | Kintop Pictures

As for her personal life, the actress is married to musician James Righton with whom she tied the knot back in 2013. Just like any other good husband, James Righton is happy with his wife’s success and does not feel undermined by her popularity. However, the same couldn’t be said for Keira Knightley’s ex, Jamie Dornan.

Did Keira Knightley’s Success Overwhelm Jamie Dornan?...

The Star Wars film series is still expanding and has grown in recognition over the years. Innumerable actors have contributed to the property as the galaxy far, far away continues to grow through projects for both small and large screens. Some of them even lose track of how they came to be cast in the first place. Take Keira Knightley, for example.

Known for her acclaimed performances in Pride and Prejudice and The Imitation Game, the actress, 39, also had a role in the Star Wars film franchise that was a long-kept secret.

Keira Knightley in Love Actually

Surprisingly, Knightley’s involvement in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) wasn’t a big deal at the time, as she was not a known face playing a bit part in the background. Even more intriguingly, she was cast for the role because of how much she resembled Natalie Portman when...

Exclusive: Jim Rash is set to direct his script Miss You, Love You, a drama that will star Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells. Madison Wells, The Walsh Company and Nat Faxon will produce a film that will begin production next month in New Mexico. Gigi Pritzker, Kevin Walsh are producing with Rash.

In the film, Janney will play a woman whose husband has passed away. With a funeral to plan and grieving to be done, she reaches out to her estranged son. He refuses to come home, choosing instead to send his personal assistant to help make the arrangements. The widow is forced to process her grief in the presence of a complete stranger.

Oscar-winner Janney reunites with Faxon and Rash, Pritzker and Walsh after they teamed on The Way Way Back, the 2013 comedy that set a record at Sundance in 2013 with domestic and international sales deals totaling nearly $12M...

Exclusive: Manager Zac Frognowski, who spent the last 10 years at Grandview, most recently as partner, has joined Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

In his move to Brillstein, Frognowski will be retaining major clients such as Mattson Tomlin (The Batman Pt II), Academy Award nominee Zach Baylin (King Richard), Tony winner Matthew López (Red White & Royal Blue), Jonathan Entwistle (upcoming Karate Kid), Lucy Tcherniak (Station Eleven), Matt Ruskin (Boston Strangler), Leah Rachel (Chambers), Francisca Alegria (upcoming The House of the Spirits) and Randy McKinnon (The Prophecy).

“We are thrilled that Zac has chosen to join us as his career evolves,” said Jon Liebman and Cynthia Pett, Brillstein’s Co-CEO’s. “It’s an understatement to say that Zac is highly intelligent, deeply passionate, and beyond tenacious in his commitment to his clients.”

Frognowski had been at Grandview since the company’s launch in May 2014. Starting as an assistant, he was promoted to manager...

In the Emmy race for Best TV Movie, Hulu’s top contenders appear to be “Fire Island” and “Prey,” both of which are currently projected by Gold Derby to be top-five contenders, but “Crown Heights” director Matt Ruskin’s stirring journalism drama, “Boston Strangler,” is equally deserving of the streamer’s resources this season. Avoiding easy answers and boasting an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated cast, the film composites “She Said’s” female-empowerment angle, “Spotlight’s” reproof of corrupt city politics, and “Zodiac’s” emphasis on the personal toll exacted by obsession.

See Keira Knightley gets the scoop in true crime drama ‘Boston Strangler’ trailer [Watch]

In 1962, ambitious Boston Record American reporter Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) gets reassigned from the lifestyle desk after connecting the murders of four elderly women killed by strangulation. The career break isn’t without drawbacks, though, and her biggest obstacle turns out to be the police, which would...

Warning: Spoilers for Boston Strangler.Matt Ruskin's Boston Strangler approaches the brutal murder case of several Boston women from a different perspective than Richard Fleischer's 1968 biopic. Ruskin makes it his mission to share the untold story of Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole, two female reporters who worked for the Record-American newspaper. Although their research led to a breakthrough in the Boston Strangler investigation, the women were never properly recognized for their achievements.

However, now that the true crime thriller has landed on Hulu, McLaughlin and Cole's work is finally being acknowledged in Boston Strangler. David Dastmalchian plays the notorious serial killer himself, Albert DeSalvo. Dastmalchian has been featured in several films such as Ant-Man, Dune, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. His upcoming projects include The Boogeyman, Oppenheimer, and Last Voyage of the Demeter. Boston Strangler also stars Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean), Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola, Chris Cooper,...

Boston Strangler is a Hulu original movie with a fantastic ensemble cast portraying the story's real-life characters. It's based on the investigation of the titular serial killer who terrorized the streets of Boston in the 1960s. Although the case is widely known, there's not enough acclaim for Loretta McLaughlin, the brilliant investigative journalist responsible for breaking the case. For this reason, Boston Strangler commits to a new approach by telling the story from her perspective, following in detail the many confusing clues that led to the identity of the infamous murderer.

In 1968, the first movie about the case, entitled The Boston Strangler, was released. That version put Loretta in the background and focused on the serial killer as the main character. The 2023 Boston Strangler movie is better than the original for many reasons, with director Matt Ruskin claiming he "didn't want to glorify violence" (via Deadline) and instead, decided to...

This article contains Spoilers for Boston Strangler!Movies based on real life events often add fictional details for entertainment purposes and Boston Strangler's Paul Dempsey is no exception. Directed by Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights), and starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon, Boston Strangler is based on the investigation into the titular serial killer during the 1960s/1970s. In stark contrast to many controversial true-crime movies Boston Strangler is not about the killer, but the two female journalists, Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole, who aimed to solve the identity of the murderer, in the face of institutional sexism.

Much like in real life, Boston Strangler's Albert DeSalvo confesses to all 13 killings, but McLaughlin and Cole realize that not all the details add up. At the end of Boston Strangler, McLaughlin writes an article following DeSalvo's death in prison, entitled "Boston Stranglers", suggesting that there were, in fact, multiple killers.

Hulu enjoyed its best showing of 2023 on Whip Media’s movie ranker, thanks to “Boston Strangler,” which grabbed the bronze medal for the past weekend after its Friday debut, according to viewership data from TV Time, its TV and movie tracking app with more than 25 million global registered users.

“Boston Strangler” stars Keira Knightley as Loretta McLaughlin, the reporter who doggedly pursued the titular 1960s serial killer alongside fellow investigative reporter Jean Cole (played by Carrie Coon). And it delivered an immediate impact for Hulu on Whip Media’s movie ranker, which looks at the 10 most-streamed movies of the past weekend.

The movie also left a strong impression on critics, with most complimenting Knightley and Coon for making the crime drama a worthwhile watch. “Though not quite perfect, ‘Boston Strangler,’ the latest from writer-director Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”), makes an admirable addition to its often exploitative genre,” Lena Wilson wrote in her review for TheWrap.

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on March 16th, 2023, reviewing “Boston Strangler,” another film version of one of the most notorious crimes of the 1960s. Streaming on Hulu beginning March 17th.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The real life crimes, which took place between 1962 and 1964, is realized through the two reporters who broke the story. Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) is a woman journalist who is relegated to the “Lifestyle” section, but really wants to work reporting on crime, a difficult beat for a woman to tap into during the 1960s. When Loretta notices a correlation between the killings that police don’t pick up, her editor Jack (Chris Cooper) reluctantly assigns her the story, pairing her with a more veteran female investigative reporter Jean Cole (Carrie Coon). They begin to unravel the killer’s story, even coming up with the term “Boston Strangler.” All...

As working mothers with public-facing careers, Boston Strangler stars Carrie Coon and Keira Knightley related to their reporter characters on a rather intimate level.

With Coon and Knightley portraying Boston Record American investigative journalists Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin, respectively, both actors understood the familial sacrifices that their characters made in order to chronicle the 13 women who were murdered by the “Boston Stranger” in the early 1960s. Their reporting also brought great danger to them and their families, as their newspaper made a point to capitalize on their gender by uncharacteristically publishing byline and crime scene photos of them. As performers, Coon and Knightley know full well that their images are also used to help sell their work, so they certainly understood their characters’ reluctance to do the same.

For Coon, Matt Ruskin’s “Fincher-esque” thriller presented an opportunity to play a female hero in a way that actually felt female.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Boston Strangler.

Hulu's Boston Strangler approaches the infamous 1960s series of murders that panicked the city of Boston in a manner that remedies modern-day grievances established from the true crime genre. The film succeeds in several creative adaptations centered around the terror in Massachusetts, which found 13 women dead and their perpetrators in the wind. However, to make a considerable impression functioning as a historical crime drama, the Hulu film required a focus that felt fresher than renditions such as The Boston Strangler of 1968, starring screen stars Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda, but also be compelling enough to captivate contemporary audiences of true-crime.

Writer and director Matt Ruskin's 2023 rendition is marked particularly by the prevailing public fascination with true crime and the tendency of audiences and cinema productions alike to glamorize killers and criminals. The true-crime phenomenon is evident in response to other creative interpretations of humanity's most deplorable,...

In 1962, Loretta McLaughlin, a reporter at the Boston Record-American, noticed a small item buried on page five of a local paper. It detailed the murder of a woman who had been found strangled in her apartment. Something about this seems familiar to McLaughlin, who digs through some old clippings and finds a story about a widow who’d also been strangled in a different neighborhood. The details of the crimes are oddly similar. She’s been itching to get away from the lifestyle desk and get her hands on a good,...

Matt Ruskin says it was important not to "humanise" a serial killer in 'Boston Strangler'.The filmmaker has helmed the historical crime drama based on the infamous Boston Strangler murders that rocked the US city during the 1960s.The picture centres on Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), the reporter who broke the story of the strangler. Along with fellow reporter Jean Cole, McLaughlin challenged the sexism of the era and pursued the story at personal risk to uncover corruption that cast doubt on the identity of the strangler.And the director has insisted it's not just a "serial killer" film but the story of a journalist fighting to be taken seriously as an investigative reporter and keeping the women of the Massachusetts city "informed".He told The Wrap: "It’s a serial killer story, but it’s also a journalism story. I did not approach this film with the intention of...

Growing up in Boston, writer and director Matt Ruskin heard about the Boston Strangler most of his life. But it wasn’t until a few years ago while researching the complex case that he was inspired to write his latest film, Boston Strangler, from a different point of view.

Matt Ruskin

“When I started reading about the case, I realized I didn’t know anything about it. And I discovered this really layered, fascinating murder mystery. There was a much bigger story both about the city and the time with a lot of twists and turns that I found to be so compelling that I thought would make for a really great film,” Ruskin told Deadline during a recent interview. “I just could never really get excited about doing a hard-boiled detective version of this story. There are a lot of aspects to it that are critical of the police...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Swarm, Extrapolations and Lucky Hank.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods premiere

Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler and Meagan Good debuted their Shazam! sequel on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Lucy Liu and Zachary Levi Faithe Herman, Grace Caroline Currey, Meagan Good, Helen Mirren, Rachel Zegler, Marta Milans and Lucy Liu Leighton Meester and Adam Brody

Swarm premiere

Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s new Prime Video series premiered on Tuesday in L.A. with stars Dominique Fishback, Chloe Bailey, Damson Idris and a special appearance by Billie Eilish.

Dominique Fishback, Donald Glover, Chloe Bailey, Janine Nabers and Damson Idris Billie Eilish Chloe Bailey and Dominique Fishback

Extrapolations premiere

The new Apple...

Boston Strangler is a thriller movie starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon. It is written and directed by Matt Ruskin.

Good photography, good performances… in a film that wants to be more of a vindication than a thriller and more All the President’s Men than Silence of the Lambs.

That said, Hulu and 20th Century Studios surprise with this very good, excellently set, period production.

Movie Review

A film that would be better called Loretta McLaughlin. Based on this journalist, who worked at the Boston Globe, the film uses the figure of the sadly infamous Boston Strangler in order to compose a whole defence statement of sexist injustices of that period that will leave thriller lovers feeling a little bit “this movie was not meant to be about that”, and those who want to see a good courtroom drama with a face of “I have not come to see...

“Boston Strangler” director Matt Ruskin found his film angle into the true story through his own investigation on social media. After delving deep into the layers of the serial killer’s story and identity, Ruskin came across an interview done by Loretta. A social media search based on journalist Jean Cole helped him realize that he was closer to the story than he thought.

Ruskin’s film follows journalist Loretta McLaughlin (Knightley), an aspiring investigative writer constantly keeping a pulse on gruesome patterns and trends. McLaughlin notices the similarities in the deaths of three women and wors hard for long hours on the side of her desk position covering lifestyle to confirm the details and write a strong article. Her editor in chief doesn’t immediately buy into her pitch, but she keeps after the story and eventually gets permission to work on it alongside Jean Cole (Carrie Coon).

As...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Body Double (Brian De Palma)

When rewatching Body Double for the third time, its most striking element was, as on my first viewing, Craig Wasson’s performance. As central character Jake Scully, Wasson turns his conventionally attractive looks into an endlessly fascinating nebbishness and awkwardness. In an early scene, Jake simply walks to his car and jumps in the driver’s seat, yet Wasson manages to turn this casual action into one of the most amusing instances of purposefully bad acting. This unquestionably intended ridiculousness in fact informs an audience of the approach required by the entire film: just as it is difficult to take this ludicrous failed actor and naïve man seriously, Body Double itself is better enjoyed with a grain of salt.

True crime is all the range. It has been this way for many years now, with Netflix seemingly tripping over its own feet to get the next serial killer mini-series out the door. Dramatizations are big business too with Ryan Murphy’s Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer already planned for two more seasons focusing on “”stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society”, keeping the murders off screen for the most part. It’s a wise choice both tonally and narratively – with the exception of one case that has a DNA link between Albert DeSalvo and 19-year-old victim Mary Sullivan – it’s not entirely clear exactly who carried out all of the murders, with many theorizing it was multiple different killers.

Set in the early-mid .60s, period detail is recreated with care. However, the gray and beige tones give an almost sepia effect – evocative of the past, but a bit drab to look at.

The story of the infamous serial-killer case nicknamed the Boston Strangler involved 13 sexual assaults and murders in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964. Officially, 12 of them have never been solved. The 13th, decades later, was proven through DNA techniques to be the chief suspect, and self-confessed “Boston Strangler” Albert DeSalvo. He was famously represented by F. Lee Bailey, who later would write a book about the case.

Related Story ‘Boston Strangler’ Trailer: Keira Knightley Leads 20th’s True-Crime Thriller For Hulu Related Story Demi Lovato Making Directorial Debut With 'Child Star' Documentary at Hulu Related Story Criminologist Docuseries 'The Lesson Is Murder' Set At Hulu From ABC News Studios The Boston Strangler, 1968 20th Century Fox

The fact that there were, and still are, so many questions about it all did not deter Hollywood and others from exploiting the case to various degrees — most famously in the 1968 20th Century Fox...

In the early 1960s, a killer terrorized the city of Boston, taking the lives of 13 women. Nearly a decade before the term “serial killer” was coined, two investigative reporters, Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole, wrote a piece on the multiple murders, breaking the story even before the case was taken seriously by law enforcement. In his upcoming noir drama, Boston Strangler, filmmaker Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights) explores this case from the perspective of McLaughlin, played by Keira Knightley, and Cole (Connie Coon), who struggle not only with the sexism of the time, but the racing clock and the next impending kill.

Thank You for Choking: Ruskin Explores the Sordid Politics Behind Infamous Serial Killing Case

The tribulations of femininity in the fourth estate anchors Boston Strangler, an investigative procedural from director Matt Ruskin which explores the peripheral but important personalities who helped shape our cultural commentary on one of America’s most infamous serial killers. The only trouble is, there remains so much speculation about those responsible for the brutal murders of thirteen Bostonian women, Ruskin’s film can’t quite strike a pose in equanimity, leaving his audience wanting more. However, this is hardly a terrible problem for a film to have, especially one which flies through its nearly two-hour running time on the compelling shoulders of Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon.…...

From the opening moments of “Boston Strangler,” writer and director Matt Ruskin makes it clear he’s thought through exactly how he wants to depict the true crime at the heart of the film. The camera refracts a killing off the surface of a television, sparing the gruesome sight of strangulation as the titular troublemaker strikes once again. It’s staged to avoid sensationalism or additional salaciousness at the expense of the victims — or the benefit of would-be copycats.

Continue reading ‘Boston Strangler’ Review: A Fascinating, Formulaic Investigative Journalism Thriller Starring Keira Knightley & Carrie Coon at The Playlist.

Keira Knightley says she was banned from doing a Boston accent on the set of Boston Strangler. Hulu’s new true crime thriller may be based on the case of the real life Boston Strangler, but the movie focuses less on the killer and more on the two female journalists who broke the story. Knightley plays reporter Loretta McLaughlin, who teams with Carrie Coon’s Jean Cole to tirelessly follow the Strangler case, even in the face of sexism and corruption.

Though Boston Strangler is based on a real-life serial killer story, there’s one detail that was left purposely unrealistic when the film was being shot. As Knightley revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Boston Strangler director Matt Ruskin expressly forbade her and her co-stars from trying to do a Boston accent, despite the movie being set in Boston. Check out what Knightley had to say in...

In the revelatory Boston Strangler, Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights) flips a well-known saga on its head. The story has been told onscreen many times, first and most famously in a 1968 feature starring Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda. In that movie, released only a few years after a series of murders targeted single women in their Boston-area apartments, the only female characters of note are victims. A select group of upstanding male detectives puzzle over the lurid details of the crimes and wax psychological about the perp. They get their man. Then came the straight-to-video thrillers about Albert DeSalvo, the confessed but not quite proven killer, and the countless episodes of true-crime series. This time around, the investigator played by Fonda has just one scene and a couple of lines; the center instead belongs to the two female reporters who broke the story and, in the process, put the Boston Pd on notice.

The infamous Boston Strangler killed more than 11 single women between the ages of 19 and 85 in the greater Boston area between 1962 and 1964. A 1968 film starring Tony Curtis captured that reign of terror, but it took over half a century to tell the true story of the female reporters who uncovered the case.

Matt Ruskin’s “Boston Strangler,” starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon, to which true crime addicts are so accustomed. Instead, the writer-director gets right to the point and follows the rules of news journalism: Keep the lede direct, the triangle inverted, and limit foreplay.

And that’s what the most haunting realization of “Boston Strangler” is: We are looking for the sex in it, the presentation of facts as fiction, and the horrors represented onscreen. But the most graphic moment we see comes 38 minutes into the film; the most salacious element is a headline that Boston is plagued by an “orgy of murders.

Boston Strangler is not a film that bemoans the state of society that breeds serial killers. The film won’t attempt to dissect the mind of the killer who terrorized women and murdered 13 or more. No, Boston Strangler, much like the recent journalist drama She Said, speaks to the tenacity of women who see a lapse in the system they once believed in and who decide to do something about it.

Written and directed by Matt Ruskin, Boston Strangler follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) and how they uncovered the story of a serial killer in Massachusetts. The duo must overcome sexism and police red tape to uncover the truth and share it with the innocent women who would have otherwise been left in the dark. The film seldom entertains the killer's perspective because this isn’t his story.

Related: Boston Strangler Trailer: Keira Knightley Hunts...

by Matt St Clair

Dynamic of an actress as she may be, Keira Knightley remains quite stuck in the past. As she brilliantly makes each role she plays her own, she consistently transports us into different time periods whether it’s WWII, 5th century Ad (King Arthur), or 18th century England (The Duchess). This time around, Knightley is taken to the early 1960s in Boston Strangler, the new journalism crime drama written and directed by Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights)...

I love a good procedural picture all about journalists. I can't quite explain it — call it competency porn? — but there's something thrilling about watching pieces of entertainment focused on journalists doing their jobs. Pounding the pavement, getting scoops, running down leads, taking copious amounts of notes in tiny flip notebooks. That's the sort of stuff that has me sitting up and pointing at the screen like I'm Leonardo DiCaprio. Which means I was already sort of in the tank for "Boston Strangler" Matt Ruskin's mostly okay thriller about the female journalists who first put the pieces together and discovered a serial killer was stalking Boston in the 1960s.

There's plenty of Journalism Stuff going on here, as the characters work the phones and peck away at their typewriters, using the power of words to help catch a killer! How can you not be at least a little jazzed about that?...

The latest film from writer-director Matt Ruskin begins in media res as an attentive neighbor overhears an attack on a female tenant in the unit next door. As he bangs on the door, the words “Inspired by a True Story” appear onscreen as the attacker turns up the radio to disguise the murder.

There are several attack scenes in Boston Strangler, which follows real life journalist Loretta McLaughlin (Kiera Knightley) as she embarks on an obsessive investigation of a serial killer targeting women in Boston from 1962 and 1964.

This first attack is the sparsest: it’s all strategic framing and sound effects to imply violence. This won’t always hold true, however; several other sequences of gendered violence are more explicit and sustained. But while the female victims were sexually assaulted and strangled, Ruskin and director of photography Ben Kutchins are careful not to sensationalize the crimes.

The gendered nature of...

Keira Knightley stars in the Hulu Original Boston Strangler Image: Hulu For decades, police procedurals were a staple of the cinematic diet. Whether ripped from the headlines or crafted solely from writers’ imaginations, viewers could count on crime dramas rooted less in mystery than the long arm of justice finally...

Bleak atmosphere and a David Fincher-inspired aesthetic are the first things that audiences will notice when watching “Boston Strangler.” Writer-director Matt Ruskin pulls us into this true-crime tale, centered on the dedicated reporters determined to solve Boston’s serial killings in the early 1960s, using similarly desaturated color, frame composition and camera movements. A distant cousin to “Zodiac,” with splashes of “Seven” mixed into its homages, this thriller falls short of its influences yet carves out a small space of its own. It makes a searing indictment of the sloppy, sexism-laced police work that might’ve resolved the case, and pays tribute to the two women who broke the investigation wide open.

Happily married mom of three Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) is a lifestyle reporter at the Record American, a newspaper continually scooped by its competitors. Hoping to break out of the staff role she’s relegated to and into the homicide beat,...

In the early 1960s, 13 women were murdered around the Boston area. Most were strangled with their own nylon stockings, leading the press to dub the murderer the “Boston Strangler.” That title also lends itself to Matt Ruskin’s newest feature on the killings, which foregrounds the reporting of Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) for the Record American. They not only coined the name but also wrote a four-part series highlighting the investigative gridlock that kept police from discovering the killer and kept the city on edge.

It’s a fascinating story that has been told before, to much less successful results, in 1968’s The Boston Strangler. Here, however, writer-director Matt Ruskin wisely hones in on McLaughlin, Cole, and the media circus that erupted during the killings. Despite dependable performances from Knightley and Coon, who honestly couldn’t be bad in anything, Boston Strangler is workmanlike above all,...

To be a male serial killer of women one must be a misogynist. “Duh,” you’re probably saying, and yet we’re surrounded by sexy serial killer media, from Zac Efron as Ted Bundy to whatever Ryan Murphy is up to these days. It’s refreshing, then, that the historical crime drama “Boston Strangler” centers on a female journalist as she tracks that eponymous killer while avoiding glamorizing or sexualizing his actions.

Keira Knightley plays Loretta McLaughlin, a dogged journalist and mother of three who sees a way out of covering the lifestyle beat when she connects three similar murders. As she seeks justice for a growing tally of victims, her own womanhood is an inextricable part of the story.

The film begins in Ann Arbor, 1965, where a woman living alone is strangled to death. Her body is posed, nylon stockings tied around her neck in a sadistic, giftwrappy bow.

Plot: A true-crime thriller about the trailblazing reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders of the 1960s.

Review: The notorious serial killer known as The Boston Strangler is a case that captivated the world in the 1960s and spawned a film almost fifty years ago starring Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo. In the decades since DeSalvo’s confession and trial, theories have emerged that the Boston murders could have been committed by multiple killers, of which DeSalvo can only be concretely linked to one. This new film from writer/director Matt Ruskin chronicles the quest of two reporters to help stop the Strangler and gives context to the city of Boston as it was on edge for years as the killer brutally dispatched women of all ages. With a solid lead from Keira Knightley, this intriguing drama emulates David Fincher’s Zodiac while not capturing the...

From writer/director Matt Ruskin, the true crime thriller Boston Strangler (available to stream at Hulu) follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), reporters for the Record-American newspapers in the 1960s who were assigned to work together when Loretta became the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. While their quest for the truth was a noble one, pursuing the story put them at personal risk and made them question just how far they were willing to go, largely as a result of the rampant sexism that was typical of that era.

"Boston Strangler," the new film from "Crown Heights" director Matt Ruskin, is one of the most well-cast movies of 2023. A 1960s period piece about the infamous Boston Strangler murders, the film stars Keira Knightley as Loretta McLaughlin, an under-appreciated journalist who becomes the first person to break the story of a killer going after women in the city. While there were a few bright spots, Knightley's career in the 2010s was littered with largely thankless roles in projects like "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," "Everest," and "Collateral Beauty," so it's thrilling to see her back in true movie star mode for the first time in years. 

It certainly helps that Knightley is surrounded by a who's who of great character actors, including Carrie Coon as journalist Jean Cole; Chris Cooper as their editor, Jack MacLaine; Alessandro Nivola as a police detective who becomes a confidant during the investigation; and David Dastmalchian...

Differentiating itself from the 1968 film, Matt Ruskin approaches Boston Strangler from the perspective of a reporter, rather than a detective. Based on the murder of over a dozen women, real-life journalists Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole are the first to connect the crimes. The duo was never formally recognized for their work, despite the major role they played throughout the investigation. However, years after their passing, Loretta and Jean's story is finally being told.

Produced by 20th Century Studios, Ruskin serves as both the writer and director of Boston Strangler. In addition to several editing credits, he has previously worked on projects such as Crown Heights, City of Dead Men, and The Infiltrator. Pirates of the Caribbean actress Keira Knightley stars as Loretta McLaughlin, with Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola, and Chris Cooper making up the rest of the main cast.

Related: Keira Knightley Calls Boston Strangler A Love Song To...

“I’d always been a bit scared about making things like this. They always seemed to glorify the killer. A man who hunted women, being hunted by two women — that was an interesting take,” says Boston Strangler star Keira Knightley. In this atmospheric film, she plays real-life 1960s reporter Loretta McLaughlin. With colleague Jean Cole, Loretta pursued the story of a serial murderer, eventually dubbed the Boston Strangler, who viciously claimed 13 victims. Shot in Boston near where some of the crimes occurred, the story, from writer-director Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights), cracks open the era’s rampant sexism, starting with the fact that the pattern in the women’s murders was initially invisible to police. The case “was famously badly handled,” Knightley notes. “Loretta wanted justice.” Once the connection was made, the journalists still faced pressure from police and even their editors to drop the story. With differing styles, McLaughlin and Cole would sometimes clash.

Based on a true story from the 1960s, Boston Strangler hones in on the assault and murder of over a dozen Boston women. Rather than creating a biopic of the killer themselves, the true crime thriller is told from the perspective of the woman who first broke the news. Loretta McLaughlin, a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, conducts her own investigation when the case is mishandled by law enforcement. After spotting a pattern, she becomes determined to bring the killer to justice and keep the women of Boston safe and informed in the process.

Written and directed by Matt Ruskin, the main cast includes Pride and Prejudice star Keira Knightley as Loretta, Carrie Coon as Jean Cole, Alessandro Nivola as Detective Conley, and Chris Cooper as Jack Maclaine. At a press conference Screen Rant attended, Knightley was asked what impressed her about the nature of the investigation, given what...

March brings a fresh slate of new shows and films to Hulu. The rotation of the catalogue also makes room for well-loved films arriving on the streamer this month. Sports buffs will enjoy “Love and Basketball” (2000) as well as “Kicking & Screaming” (2005). Animated family favorites include “Rio” (2011) and “Ice Age: Continental Drift” (2010).

As for new releases, Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon play hard-working journalists in the investigative thriller “Boston Strangler” (2023) from writer and director Matt Ruskin. Olivia Colman can be seen as Miss Havisham in FX’s rendition of “Great Expectations.” And a new twist on reality dating involves the charming countryside with “Farmer Wants a Wife.”

And Best Picture Oscar nominee “Triangle of Sadness” hits the streamer on March 3.

The Oscars as well as the pre-show and post-show red carpets will also be available to livestream around March 12 when the ceremony takes place and March 13, the day after, if...

Boston Strangler Trailer — Matt Ruskin‘s Boston Strangler (2023) movie trailer has been released by 20th Century Studios and Hulu. The Boston Strangler trailer stars Keira Knightley, Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola, Chris Cooper, David Dastmalchian, Robert John Burke, Morgan Spector, and Bill Camp. Crew Matt Ruskin wrote the screenplay for Boston Strangler. “It’s [...]

Continue reading: Boston Strangler (2023) Movie Trailer: Reporter Keira Knightley connects the Boston Strangler Murders...

Disney+ has debuted the trailer for the true-crime thriller ‘Boston Strangler,’ featuring Keira Knightley.

The film follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation alongside colleague and confidante Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), yet the duo finds themselves stymied by the rampant sexism of the era. Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Cole bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.

Written and directed by Matt Ruskin, the film stars Keira Knightley, Emmy® nominee Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola (“Amsterdam”), David Dastmalchian (“Dune”), Morgan Spector (“Homeland”), Bill Camp (“Joker”), and Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper (“Adaptation”).

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The film premieres 17 March,...

The new thriller "Boston Strangler", written/directed by Matt Ruskin ("Crown Heights") and produced by Ridley Scott, stars Keira Knightley, Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola, David Dastmalchian, Morgan Spector, Bill Camp and Oscar winner Chris Cooper, streaming March 17, 2023 on Hulu:

"... 'Loretta McLaughlin (Knightley), a reporter for the 'Record-American' newspaper, becomes the first journalist to cover the  'Boston Strangler' killings.

"With confidante 'Jean Cole' (Coon), the duo bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth..."

Click the images to enlarge...

“Boston Strangler” from 20th Century Studios and writer/director Matt Ruskin premieres March 17, 2023, exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ under the Star banner in all other territories. The trailer and poster for the true-crime thriller about the trailblazing reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders of the 1960s are available now. “Boston Strangler” stars two-time Oscar(R) nominee Keira Knightley, Emmy(R) nominee Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola (“Amsterdam”), David Dastmalchian (“Dune”), Morgan Spector (“Homeland”), Bill Camp (“Joker”), and Academy Award(R) winner Chris Cooper (“Adaptation”). Written and directed by Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”), the film is produced by Ridley Scott (“The Martian”), Kevin J. Walsh (“House of Gucci”), Michael Pruss (“American Woman”), Josey McNamara (“Promising Young Woman”), and Tom Ackerley, with Michael Fottrell (“The Fate of the Furious”) and Sam Roston serving as executive producers. Sam Roston is overseeing...

Keira Knightley is going back in time once again - and this time to a particularly terrifying slice of history: 1960s Boston, when a killer known as the Boston Strangler was on the prowl. The first trailer for the movie, titled "Boston Strangler," dropped on Feb. 21, and in it, Knightly plays journalist Loretta McLaughlin, who was the first to realize there was a connection between a series of murders. That eventually leads her towards a serial killer who would become known as the Boston Strangler.

The Boston Strangler killed a total of at least 11 women between 1962 and 1964, per Biography. Eventually, a man named Albert DeSalvo confessed to the murders while already in prison, though he was not charged for the case and was found dead in his cell in 1973. In 2013, per New Scientist, DNA evidence finally proved that he was the killer.

Related: Watch These Netflix True-Crime Documentaries With Caution...

Hulu has today unveiled the official trailer for Boston Strangler, the upcoming Keira Knightley-starring true crime thriller from 20th Century Studios and writer/director Matt Ruskin. Also featuring Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola, and Chris Cooper, the film premieres on the streaming platform March 17th, 2023.

As a press release puts it, Boston Strangler “follows Loretta McLaughlin (Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation alongside colleague and confidante Jean Cole (Coon), yet the duo finds themselves stymied by the rampant sexism of the era. Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Cole bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.”

In the trailer, Loretta’s suspicions about this string of 1960s murders are immediately dismissed...