The Whisper Man (2026)
Directed by James Ashcroft
When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.
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21 films that influenced The Whisper Man
What critics say influenced The Whisper Man
…fails to congeal with the sort of “Silence of the Lambs”-appealing pressure desired of a proposed tête-à-tête between longtime rivals on opposite sides of an investigation…
James Patterson’s serial killer novels, Slender Man, The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, The Black Phone, and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger all shape the story…
The Whisper Man is not going to challenge The Silence of the Lambs as the high-water mark of this genre…
She even gets her own Clarice Starling moment, because, again, all these movies are chasing The Silence of the Lambs.
Michael Keaton makes the most of limited screentime as the original Whisper Man, long locked away for his sick deeds, ready to play Hannibal Lecter-esque mind games with the police when they seek his advice on who might be picking up where he left off.
…a shop-worn narrative that feels like a remix of Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon…
…from Kiss the Girls to The Bone Collector, before the Saw franchise replaced mystery and suspense with gristle and innards…
Kiss the Girls…
…from Kiss the Girls to The Bone Collector, before the Saw franchise replaced mystery and suspense with gristle and innards…
The Bone Collector…
In the 1980s, Freddy Krueger turned sleep itself into something terrifying, stalking his victims through their dreams with a razor glove and a nursery rhyme.
James Patterson’s serial killer novels, Slender Man, The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, The Black Phone, and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger all shape the story…
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…isn’t able to thread that needle with the same deft hand for desperation that someone like Denis Villeneuve managed to harness with his American breakthrough “Prisoners,”…
…selling Tom's desperation by doing his best Hugh-Jackman-in-Prisoners impression…
De Niro may have thousands of theoretical co-stars who could appear here but only two movies with that storyline. And if you figure critics were barred from blowing open the ending of 2005’s Hide and Seek, well, you incorrectly presume they were even allowed to see that film early.
The Whisper Man sometimes resembles another De Niro thriller, Hide and Seek—though this one is far better. Like Hide and Seek, The Whisper Man deals with presences that might or might not be imaginary.
…could have been released in between the evil clone horror Godsend and imaginary friend thriller Hide and Seek, the kind of bottom-tier project that offers the actor a nice big cheque and the audience a nice little nap…
Without a Trace…
Copycat…
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James Patterson’s serial killer novels, Slender Man, The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, The Black Phone, and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger all shape the story…
…before the Saw franchise replaced mystery and suspense with gristle and innards…