''The Postcard Killings'' is a 2020 American crime film directed by

Danis Tanović Danis Tanović (born 20 February 1969) is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for having directed and written the script for the 2001 Bosnian movie ''No Man's Land'' which won him many awards, including an Academy Award f ...

, starring

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...

Famke Janssen Famke Beumer Janssen (; born ) is a Dutch actress. She played Xenia Onatopp in '' GoldenEye'' (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the ''Taken'' film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she ...

and

Cush Jumbo Cush Jumbo (born 23 September 1985) is a British actress and writer. She is best known for her leading role as attorney Lucca Quinn in the CBS drama series '' The Good Wife'' (2015–16) and the CBS All Access spin-off series ''The Good Figh ...

, and based on the 2010 novel '' The Postcard Killers'' by

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', and ''Private'' ...

and

Liza Marklund Eva Elisabeth "Liza" Marklund (born 9 September 1962) is a Swedish journalist and crime writer. Her novels, of which most feature the fictional newspaper journalist Annika Bengtzon, have been published in forty languages. Marklund is the co-owne ...

. The film was released on March 13, 2020, receiving negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Jacob Kanon, a New York detective, investigates the death of his daughter who was murdered while on her honeymoon; he recruits the help of an American journalist working in Sweden, Dessie Lombard, when other couples throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

suffer a similar fate. The movie opens with someone killing a young couple. It turns out to be Jacob Kanon's daughter and her husband who are in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on their honeymoon. He goes to London to identify the bodies of his daughter and her new husband at the morgue. After that Kanon starts investigating on who's the killer and moves to other European cities as the killer doesn't stop. With the help of Lombard and a German policeman he exposes the truth and understands what's going on.

Cast

as Jacob Kanon *

as Valerie Kanon *

as Désirée “Dessie” Lombard *

Joachim Król Joachim Król (, born 17 June 1957 in Herne, West Germany) is a German actor, known for his appearances in the films '' Run Lola Run'', '' Maybe, Maybe Not'', and '' Anne Frank: The Whole Story''. Early life and education Król was born in H ...

as Inspector Bublitz *

Steven Mackintosh Steven Mackintosh (born 30 April 1967) is an English actor and narrator. He is perhaps best known for his role as Andreas Tanis in the action horror films '' Underworld: Evolution'' (2006) and '' Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'' (2009). Mack ...

as Rupert Pearce * Naomi Battrick as Sylvia Randolph / Marina Haysmith *

Ruairi O'Connor Ruairí O’Connor is an Irish actor. He is known for his role as Henry Tudor, the future Henry VIII, in Starz series ''The Spanish Princess''. He has also starred in '' Handsome Devil'' and '' The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It''. Early ...

as Mac Randolph / Simon Haysmith *

Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...

as Simon Haysmith *

Eva Röse Eva Röse (born 16 October 1973) is a Sweden, Swedish actress and television host. She is best known internationally for her role as the sinister android Niska in Season 1 of the Swedish science fiction TV series ''Real Humans''. Since 2022, she ...

as DS Agneta Hoglund * Lukas Loughran as Detective Evert Ridderwall * Dylan Devonald Smith as Pieter *

Sallie Harmsen Sallie Harmsen (born May 2, 1989) is a Dutch actress having had roles in '' In Real Life'' for which she won Golden Calf for Best Actress at the Netherlands Film Festival 2008. Harmsen appeared in ''De Geheimen van Barslet'' Golden Calf for Best A ...

as Nienke *

Orla O'Rourke Orla O'Rourke is an Irish actress known for her role in the 2014 film '' Calvary''. Early life and education O'Rourke was born in Zambia to Irish parents. Her family returned to Ireland when she was five. At 13, she entered drama school. At 16 ...

as Nancy *

Christopher Pizzey Christopher Pizzey (born 23 December 1976) is a British actor and comedian from London, best known for playing Mr. Stephen in the CBBC series ''The Basil Brush Show''. Early life Pizzey was born and raised in London and graduated from the Rose ...

as Charles Hardwick * Tim Ahern as Bill Brown * Martin Wenner as Matts * Caroline Bartholdson as Female Detective *

Daniel Sjöberg Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

as Male Detective * Pål Espen M Kilstad as The Driver * Ben Vinnicombe as Jose Martinez

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 29 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Frank Scheck of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' wrote: "The filmmakers are clearly hoping that Patterson's name will be enough to attract moviegoers, but this misbegotten effort only serves to further tarnish a cinematic brand already diminished by 2012's

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmma ...

-starrer ''Alex Cross''." Dennis Harvey of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said: "This uninspired detour into impersonally commercial English-language terrain for Bosnian director Danis Tanovic (an Oscar winner for 2001's ''No Man's Land'') should provide Patterson's fans and undemanding miscellaneous viewers with an acceptably slick if not-particularly-suspenseful crime potboiler for home viewing." Brian Costello of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

awarded the film three stars out of five.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Postcard Killing, The 2020 films American crime drama films American mystery films British crime drama films Films based on works by James Patterson Films directed by Danis Tanović French-language films German-language films Russian-language films Swedish-language films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films 2020s British films