I Am Not a Serial Killer is an adaptation of the first book in a series of young adult novels about a teenage boy interested in an alleged serial killer in his small town perhaps because he believes that he has similar proclivities, but he is shocked to discover the killer’s identity and the motive for the murders.
I knew nothing about I Am Not a Serial Killer before watching it, and I think that is why I enjoyed it so much because I was genuinely surprised by the plot twist. I have no idea how it ended up in my queue, but obviously the length of time between when it caught my attention and when I finally watched it helped. I highly recommend it.
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I Am Not a Serial Killer worked for me because the story had some natural tension that propelled the story forward and kept my interest despite the fact that I followed the Law & Order rule—the most famous person, Christopher Lloyd, is cast as the killer. Even when it was predictable, the movie still found a way to surprise me. Was this kid right that one day he was going to become a serial killer? Was his initial search for the serial killer an act of looking for a mentor or an act of admiration? (Um, hi, I really would love to ask you more questions. And I’m a victim. This isn’t The Following, kid. It was a provocative unspoken concept that fortunately got switched for the supernatural element.) How do you stop a supernatural being when you may be a budding killer, but don’t have the juice yet and have no idea how to kill it?
I Am Not a Serial Killer genuinely surprised me with the supernatural twist. I accepted a casual early comment in the movie that people blamed monsters for serial killers’ work instead of taking it as a hint that there was going to be a switch. It took me awhile before I really accepted that the old neighbor wasn’t simply psycho, but not human. It wasn’t until the barbershop scene and a bunch of rewinding and stopping the movie like the Zapruder film that I finally could get on board. The barbershop scene really raises the stakes in the movie, but the stupid kid move of making the phone call and ensuing chase had me on the edge of my seat. The movie never let us forget that at the end of the day, this was a dumb, inexperienced kid versus an unfathomable being that had been doing this for ages. Even then I have to admire the author for choosing a supernatural creature that I know nothing about. After seeing the movie, I looked it up, and if my life depended on it, I’m not sure if I could remember that he was a Mkhai or the Withered. Did the author make them up or do they originate from a legend that predates this book? I have no idea, but good job. Even Supernatural seems to be running out of beasties to kill.
I generally find adolescent boys annoying, but this teen anti-hero seemed more like he was rootlessly looking around for an explanation regarding why he was so weird. I found him sympathetic, especially after his Christmas disappointment. On one hand, I think that it is part of the human condition to be less empathetic than we are led to believe that we are supposed to be, fantasize about hurting someone who hurt us and to be fascinated by serial killers. The dance scene was delicious. On the other hand, we can actually test if someone is sociopathic and testing positive should not be equated with automatically becoming a serial killer. It is not dispositive. So John, the main character, could be a sociopath and not a killer. I think that we would be surprised how many people are actually sociopaths. For someone who is allegedly a sociopath, he gets very invested in defending those who are close to him so I think that the gentle boy doth protest too much. Yes, he was off putting and going for shock value in his interactions, but guys do that so on its own, it isn’t alarming. A point goes against him for the one violent impulse that he does have to snare his supernatural killer; however his youth and vulnerability overtake his usual cavalier demeanor, and I believe the side of him that emerged under his stress. He was a protector.
Shout out to his mom for simultaneously being hella suspicious of his kid then turning on a dime and helping him snag the killer. One of my biggest pet peeves in movies, television shows and real life is when someone believes the person that they just met over the person that they’ve known all their life. It is annoying and always makes me want to question that person. I loved that I Am Not a Serial Killer gave us an overprotective dad, and another shout out goes to John’s friend for drawing clear boundaries and choosing himself over his friend when he realized that he was being used albeit for something good. There were a lot of different types of men in this movie, and they all felt believable.
I really loved how realistic I Am Not a Serial Killer felt. The depiction of the passage of time was so casual and perfect. The town felt like its own character so it was credible to me that John had so much freedom to roam since usually nothing ever happened, especially since it is established in the first scene that everyone knows him, and he would probably be ratted out fairly quickly if he did anything wrong. The all woman morgue was such a random, but neat touch. The panda balaclava was a nice touch.
I Am Not a Serial Killer was an engrossing, realistic portrait of a small town and a troubled teen trying to grasp something worse than they even expected. I loved the slow reveal that the supernatural had long touched their lives. On one hand, I’m relieved that no sequels are planned because it is better to leave them wanting more than wishing that you never gave it to them. If there was a sequel and someone decided to adapt the subsequent books, it would be a good idea to consider making it a television series rather than a series of movies, but only if the same actors were willing to resume their roles.