''A Kind of Murder'' is a 2016 American

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

, directed by

Andy Goddard Andy Goddard (born 1968) is a Welsh director and screenwriter, best known for writing and directing his feature debut '' Set Fire to the Stars'' (2014) and directing and co-producing his second feature '' A Kind of Murder'' (2016). Goddard has a ...

from a screenplay by Susan Boyd. It is based upon the 1954

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novel ...

novel '' The Blunderer''. It stars

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake ( née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bie ...

, Vincent Kartheiser,

Haley Bennett Haley Loraine Keeling (born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Haley Bennett, is an American actress. She made her film debut in the romantic comedy ''Music and Lyrics'' (2007) and has since appeared in films such as '' The Equalizer'' (2 ...

, and

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

on April 17, 2016. The film was released in the United States on December 16, 2016, by

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...

Plot

Walter Stackhouse is an architect by day, and an aspiring writer by night. He writes short-story crime fiction and is fascinated by a recent murder of a local woman. He meets her husband by visiting the man's used bookstore. Stackhouse has a troubled marriage, and his wife turns up dead. The police detective investigating both deaths suspects each husband of killing his wife, and a possible connection between the two crimes.

Cast

as Walter Stackhouse *

as Clara Stackhouse * Vincent Kartheiser as Detective Lawrence Corby *

as Ellie Briess *

as Marty Kimell * Jon Osbeck as Jon Carr * Radek Lord as Tony Ricco * Christine Dye as Claudia * Michael Douglas Hall as Mr. Devries

Production

In February 2013, it was revealed that

had been attached to direct the film, from a screenplay by Susan Boyd, with

Ted Hope Ted Hope (born 1962) is an American independent film producer based in New York City. He is best known for co-founding the production/sales company Good Machine, where he produced the first films of such notable filmmakers as Ang Lee, Nicole H ...

Christine Vachon Christine Vachon (; born November 21, 1962) is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector. Christine Vachon produced Todd Haynes' first feature, ''Poison'', which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundan ...

, and Kelly McCormick producing under their

Killer Films Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded by movie producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler in 1995. The company has produced a number of the most acclaimed American independent films over the past tw ...

and Sierra Pictures banner, respectively. In May 2014, it was announced that

Imogen Poots Imogen Gay Poots (born 3 June 1989) is an English actress and model. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film ''28 Weeks Later'' (2007), Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic '' Jimi: All Is by My Side'' (2013), Debbie Raymond in ...

and

Toby Jones Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama '' Orlando'' in 1992. H ...

had been cast in the film. In November 2014,

joined the cast of the film, replacing Poots. That same month,

joined the cast of the film, replacing Jones. In August 2015, the film was re-titled "A Kind of Murder".

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on November 17, 2014 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio, under the title "The Blunderer". In December 2014, a casting call was put out for 1950 cars, and male extras. Production concluded on December 16, 2014.

Post-production

In June 2015, it was reported that Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans had composed the score for the film.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on April 17, 2016. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released on December 16, 2016.

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 has an approval rating of 35% based on reviews from 17 critics. 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 score of 50% based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Nick Schager 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), ...

'' wrote: "While thrills are mitigated by convoluted plotting and suspect character behavior, the film's uniquely bleak twist on classic noir conventions is enlivening." John DeFore 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 ...

'' called it "A handsome period piece that plays more like a scant-clues mystery than like the psychological thriller it intends to be."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kind Of Murder, A 2016 films 2010s mystery thriller films American thriller drama films American independent films American mystery thriller films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Patricia Highsmith Films set in New York City Films set in the 1960s Films shot in Kentucky Films shot in Ohio Films produced by Christine Vachon Killer Films films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films