#To Catch a Killer (2023)

[shaileneswoodley]

To Catch A Killer (2023) Trailer starring Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn and Ralph Ineson

[merciganimard]

Sooo...would Lisa Frankenstein and Renfield be a good double feature? Perhaps throwing in Totally Killer for a mini marathon? Horror fans what say you

[kuzzzma]

To Catch a Killer (2023) – is a strange film, that outright LIES to it’s intended viewers.

It’s not about how they are going to catch a killer, this title is just a feint, to fool critics and audience alike. The purpose of the film is to ask some very uncomfortable questions sneakily, so subtly that viewers are not even aware that they were asked anything, yet the question will linger and doubt will fester and maybe this will lead to finding some answers in oneself.

Problems stated, questions posed:

Homelessnes

Sexual harassment

Human and LGBT rights

Gun control

History

Racism

Sexism

Police bias

Media responsibility

Media sensationalism

Ecology

Pollution

Politics and populism

Workers rights

Police unprofessionalism

Police brutality

And it’s not an attack on any one country. You see people at the mall, workplace, struggles with higher-ups, who don’t care one bit about solving the crime, but only about how it will reflect on their political aspirations (and everything can be sacrificed for that). It’s universal.

I look at those human interactions and it’s the same everywhere. I look at these landscapes and see a typical Russian small town during winter:

РУС!реал

– How long have you been married? – Ever since we were allowed.

This snippet of dialog jolts the viewer with it’s choice of words: the notion that you need to be ALLOWED to get married feels instantly WRONG, and yet… I find it much more effective that just silently doing token “representation”.

This jolt is much needed, it shakes up viewer and pokes at their assumptions about what kind of film they are watching just in time to pose the main Question right in the next scene.

The Question is stated outright, as well as the answer author proposes and later puts to test.

Big question to ask.

– That’s the big question. How people shape systems and how systems shape us. Today it’s all about the STATUS. People who have it will kill to protect it. People who want it will kill to achieve it and everyone else will be crushed inbetween. Governments, corporations, high school.. pattern seems to be the same. – How do we change that? – You need empathy. Connection. If we truly see ourselves in other people, we want to raise them up, not bring them down.

This is exactly what our protagonist will try to do when facing their perpetrator – establish connection, empathise, work together.

The perpetrator with his need for space and time, with his cabin in the woods reminds me of Henry David Thoreau. He even looks like him!

In the last arc wounded and dying perpetrator is hunted down with the whole might of police force. It’s all blinking lights, whole fleet of cars, helicopters in the air, radio chatter and sirens, all hands on deck. Hunters form a line and their prey is trapped.

We got his tracks!

This comes after this man stated his need for quiet, desire and inability to hide from society.

Makes viewer feel sick long before suicide by the firing squad of cops.

It’s a strange sad film, but it’s got sharp teeth and claws, and it puts boredom, glory, beauty and horror on display:

Boredom and Glory.

Beauty.

Horror

The essential advantage for a poet is not to have a beautiful world with which to deal; it is to be able to see beneath both beauty and ugliness; to see the boredom, and the horror, and the glory. T.S. Eliot

[hawkstincan]

[screenmovie]

Ben Mendelsohn as Lammark,

To Catch a Killer (2023), directed by Damián Szifron and written by him & Jonathan Wakeham.

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

94. To Catch A Killer (2023)

[olvaheiner]

To Catch a Killer (2023)

[haverwood]

To Catch a Killer Damián Szifron USA, 2023 ★★ Subverting Expectations: The Movie

The thing with "subverting expectations" is that you gotta know when to stop. At some point, it'll become a cartoon.

Mess enough with them twists, you'll end up entangled too.

[kristenswig]

#119. To Catch a Killer - Damián Szifron

4/5

[adamwatchesmovies]

To Catch a Killer (2023)

I can see why some viewers may find To Catch a Killer unoriginal. The protagonist, the case itself and the conflicts competing with the case to make the investigation even harder than it needs to be have appeared in other stories before. I’m not sure I’ve seen them all in a movie together like this, however. There’s something about this unusually sympathetic film by Damián Szifron (co-written by him and Jonathan Wakeham) that struck a chord with me.

On New Year’s Eve in Baltimore, a sniper kills dozens of people at random. Police officer Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) arrives on the scene, where her quick thinking impresses FBI Special Agent Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn). Together, they begin searching for the killer, noticing immediately that their actions don’t quite line up with those of typical mass shooters.

What’s unusual about this film is that no aspect of the story is glamorized. The sniper’s victims are alive one second and dead the next. Once people around them realize what happened, the camera moves to another scene where someone else is caught in the sniper's crosshairs. The investigation itself is bogged down with bureaucratic decisions that tell Eleanor catching this killer will be needlessly complicated. Baltimore’s mayor wants the shooter found but he can’t let a little thing like a city gripped in fear put a stop to his plans. Everyone seems more concerned with what will happen after the killer is stopped - who will get the credit, who will get the blame, etc. - than in the work necessary to stop the bloodshed.

The opening is brutal and chilling in its matter-of-factness. From there, director Damián Szifron makes the… unusual? controversial? choice to eventually have Eleanor and the shooter (played by Ralph Ineson) discover that they have more in common than they thought. With Ineson’s performance and the very real portrayal of mental illness plaguing his character, the film almost forces you to feel empathy for him. How could we not when we don’t see any of the victims before they become targets, we don’t meet their loved ones afterward and the authorities are so power-hungry, reckless and self-absorbed. I’m not sure how to feel about this. Yes, the killer is just a “regular” person with a family that loves him, an ordinary career and so on rather than some gun-crazy ghoul. It’s important to remember that even those who commit horrible things are human beings… but at the end of the day, the world would’ve been a better place if this person had never been born. If Eleanor ever sat down with anyone and told them that at the end of the day, the shooter wasn’t a monster, she’d have a mob of anguished brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, boyfriends, girlfriends and children coming after her with pitchforks and torches. To Catch a Killer suceeds in making you pause and think about how we should think about people who do bad things but the side it picks is one I don’t think most of us would ever choose in real life.

The maze of politics, bad decisions, occasional sympathy, quick thinking and violence in To Catch a Killer is engaging. I don’t know how memorable the film will be down the line because so many aspects have appeared elsewhere but that doesn’t mean it's not worth seeing. I’m certainly glad to have spent those 119 minutes with To Catch a Killer. (September 1, 2023)

[chinchillasorchildren]

Films of 2023: To Catch a Killer (dir. Damian Szifron)

Grade: C+

It passed the time.

[cinematitlecards]

"To Catch A Killer" (2023) Directed by Damián Szifron (Action/Crime/Drama)

[grigori77]

Movies of 2023 - My Summer Rundown (Part 1)

The Runners-Up:

20.  TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS – it’s telling that we didn’t get a truly GREAT live action Transformers movie until Michael Bay stepped back into a mere producer capacity and we got 2018’s brilliant soft-reboot Bumblebee.  This new film feels like something of a step back to Bay’s more OTT chaos, but they’ve still learned the lessons from that ridiculous excess to bring us a direct sequel to that ingenious restart, Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. going bigger this time but still reining in the excess with impressive focus for an explosively exciting and still endearingly heartfelt action adventure.  The end results are still clunky but a good deal better than Bay’s misfires, and entertaining, affecting and genuinely thrilling if you just let yourself go with it …

19.  TO CATCH A KILLER – honestly, I could hardly call Argentine filmmaker Damian Szifron’s taut suspense thriller an international big break considering it only received a limited theatrical release before becoming a relative promo-free sleeper on streaming, but this is one of those underdog movies that really deserves a lot more attention than it received.  Divergent’s Shailene Woodley is electrifying as Eleanor, a troubled Baltimore PD officer who, after a nightmarish sniper attack and bombing, becomes an unofficial investigator under the guidance of FBI manhunter Lammark (an ON-FIRE Ben Mendelsohn) as he races to track down a brutal domestic terrorist before they commit another atrocity.

18.  HEART OF STONE – Gal Gadot stretches her action heroine muscles outside of playing Wonder Woman as superspy Rachel Stone/Nine of Hearts, a top agent in a mysterious covert intelligent agency known as the Charter, who must go it alone when a former partner makes a play for the quantum computing AI that helps them fight international threats.  Director Tom Parker (The Aeronauts, Wild Rose, Peaky Blinders) reveals previously largely untapped action talent as he turns The Old Guard comics-writer’s blistering screenplay into an exciting, fast-paced action thriller that’s sure to impress fans of Netflix’ previous dabbles in the genre.

17.  ORGAN TRAIL – another indie underdog that snuck in VERY MUCH under the radar, this supremely twisted psychological horror western from Drop Dead Gorgeous director Michael Patrick Jann and newcomer screenwriter Meg Turner deserves A WHOLE LOT of attention.  Zoe De Grand Maison (Orphan Black, Riverdale) lights up the screen as Abigail Archer, a young girl in snow-bound 1870s Montana who’s forced to grow up REAL FAST when her family is murdered by a band of marauding outlaws who make a brutal living attacking travelling groups of would-be settlers for their money and supplies.

16.  INDIANA JONES & THE DIAL OF DESTINY – 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was such a disappointment compared to the giddy heights of Steven Spielberg’s original stone-cold CLASSIC action adventure trilogy that I went into this film with very low expectations, so I was VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to see that this is actually a whole lot of fun and a GLORIOUS return to form for Harrison Ford’s now VERY OLD Nazi-fighting treasure hunter and professor of archaeology.  With Spielberg and George Lucas largely stepping back into producing duties here, Logan writer-director James Mangold has taken up the reins instead, delivering an engagingly nostalgic thrill-ride which beautifully redeems Indiana Jones for a new generation while also giving the character a suitably grand send-off …

15.  THE PRINCE – while not technically a feature film, I was SO thoroughly impressed by this filmed performance of the revolutionary Shakespearean deconstruction play by actress, playwright and influential YouTuber Abigail Thorn that I couldn’t resist giving it a nod here.  Thorn shines bright as a distinctly unconventional take on Harry “Hotspur” Pierce in Henry IV, an anthropomorphised play character who becomes ensnared in a radical shake-up of their life-story when a pair of humans from THE REAL WORLD become trapped in the play itself and wind up entirely sabotaging the narrative.  It’s a fascinating experience, a revolutionary game-changer of a show which takes Shakespeare and turns his works ENTIRELY on their head while addressing important themes of genre identity, sexuality and intolerance, and this is glaring proof that this is a production which deserves to be seen whether it’s in this Nebula video presentation or performed live on stage.

14.  BARBIE – Oppenheimer’s bizarre unexpected twin when it came to be released in cinemas is, in many ways, just as important a film, but for very different reasons.  After languishing in Development Hell since 2009, writer-director Greta Gerwig finally realised this genuinely BIZARRE screwball comedy sort-of biopic of the iconic fashion doll range from Mattel, unleashing the character upon the world IN THE LIVING FLESH in the simply PERFECT (from a casting point of view) form of Margot Robbie.  She’s simply AMAZING here as “Stereotypical Barbie”, who finds herself going through an existential crisis after some girl starts “playing with her wrong” in the real world, but the film is frequently stolen right out from under her by Ryan Gosling as her so-called boyfriend Ken, who went ALL OUT to bring the most fundamentally useless boy-toy in history to life …

13.  MEG 2: THE TRENCH – supremely creepy indie cinema director Ben Wheatley may seem like a distinctly ODD choice to helm a follow-up to 2018’s most delightfully off-the-wall runaway action horror smash hit, but he actually proves to be a perfect hit because he clearly GETS the inherent silliness of this franchise.  Cinema’s all-time greatest living “special effect”, Jason Statham, returns as deep sea rescue diver and professional giant shark-puncher Jonas Taylor, once again wrapped up in a whole heap of trouble when not one but this time THREE massive prehistoric megaladons escape the abyssal Trench and start munching on South Pacific tourists, but this time matters are further complicated when he also has to deal with a conglomerate of dastardly strip-miners looking to exploit the Trench’s rare earth metal resources for their own ends …

12.  THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL & HER MONSTER – debuting writer-director Bomani J. Story brings Frankenstein to the inner-city projects as haunted teenage genius Vicaria (the new TV series of The Equalizer’s Laya DeLeon Hayes) reanimates her gangbanger big brother Chris (Kill a Prophet and Warrior Soul’s Edem Atsu-Swanzy) after he’s gunned down in a turf war.  The results are a dark and disturbing slowburn psychological body horror that deals head-on with socially resonant issues of drugs, urban poverty and gang culture while also delivering a unique and challenging new twist on one of the most classic stories in the history of science-fiction and horror …

11.  TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM – another animated feature that’s following the inventive new lead of the Spider-Verse movies, this latest big screen incarnation for Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s zeitgeisty comics creations is a genuine riot which takes the original core concept and runs it through a delightfully skewed comedic blender to form a compelling new narrative basis for what’s sure to be a fantastic new film series.  Comedy screenwriting/producing masters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg team up with up-and-coming young writer-director Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells Vs. the Machines) to bring the youthful mutant quartet to vivid life with plenty of visual flair, anarchic chaotic humour and a whole lot of heart, and I for one can’t wait for more.

[lemony-snickers]

Title: A Tale of Lanterns (AO3 Link Here) Summary: Killer Bee Chaperones Omoi and Karui at a Halloween Festival. Word Count: 4,254 Warnings: none! this was my contribution to the @naruto-calendar last december. the accompanying art by @crueltupperware can be found in the masterpost for the event here. .

Killer Bee struggled to rein in his elation at watching Karui and Omoi as they entered the festival grounds.  Though it had been a long journey to undertake on foot with two children, the trek was well worth it the moment the village came into sight.

It was draped in lantern light, paper lamps stretched on strings between stalls and buildings, bathing everything in a warm orange glow, perfectly befitting a Halloween celebration.  The way the children’s eyes widened as they took in all the flickering lanterns and spooky decorations, their mouths hanging open in unabashed awe, made Killer Bee’s sore feet and aching calves in his geto sandals almost forgettable.

Almost.

He still regretted his choice of footwear a little, but it was part of his costume, and so he would just have to suffer through for the evening.

Omoi tugged at Bee’s kimono sleeve.

“Come on,” he whined, leaning hard on that final syllable to draw it out as he began staggering up the hill.  “We’re missing it!”

One glance up the path made it clear Karui felt no need to wait for the pair of them.  Her red hair was harder to spot tucked away beneath a witch’s hat, but he could still glimpse it darting between other festival attendees as she sped uphill.

Killer Bee chuckled and gave Omoi a nod,  “Go ahead, kid.  I’ll catch up.”

That was all it took for the young vampire to tear after his friend shouting futilely for her to let him catch up, “Karui!  Wait for me!”

Bee smiled at Omoi’s unintentional verse.  Whenever one of them accidentally rhymed, Bee wondered if the pair of them picked that up from him without realizing.

Of course, Karui’s snide response that if Omoi were faster, she wouldn’t need to wait made Bee’s smile broaden.  Sometimes, he thought they acted more like siblings than friends, and he saw no future in which they did not end up assigned to the same squad together; their chemistry was too natural and obvious, even now.

He took much more time to ascend the hill than the two children he chaperoned, but Bee’s keen shinobi senses ensured he never really lost track of their whereabouts, even if he couldn’t see them.

You’re getting slow in your old age.

Bee scoffed, shoving the voice of Gyuki down and away, ignoring the low rumbling chuckle that echoed in his mind as he did.

As if he could ever be old!  It was just the footwear combined with the incline!

Perhaps in an attempt to prove Gyuki—and maybe himself, a little—wrong, Bee channeled his chakra into his feet and powered up the rest of the hill to catch up with the enthusiastic pair already at the top.  Still, he wondered why this village decided to place their vendors on the steepest road in the village.

Not that it mattered, of course, but still.

By the time he reached Karui and Omoi, they were already leaping at the opportunity to play one of the many games offered at stalls lining the street.  They looked at Bee with wide, bright eyes filled with hope as he approached.

“Can we?  Please?”

The chorus of their voices was enough to split his face in half with a grin and he happily handed over the necessary ro for them to each receive a fishing pole from the vendor.  The object of the game, apparently, was to collect as many magnetized fish as you could before the buzzer sounded.  Each fish had a number painted on the bottom, which would determine which prizes the players could choose from at the end of their thirty-second round.

Of course, as soon as the vendor told them to begin, Karui and Omoi were immediately competing with one another to see who could collect the most fish.  Bee sighed, watching as they bumped one another’s shoulders in a bid to push each other off course in their pursuit of a prize.

He wanted to point out that doing so was detrimental to both their totals, but by the time he opened his mouth, the buzzer had rung and both children pouted.

“Better luck next time, kids,” the vendor said, not unkindly, collecting their poles and the meager two fish they had each collected—all with an unsatisfying number one etched onto the bottom.  “For your efforts.”

Karui and Omoi both reached out to take the offered candies—brightly-colored lollipops wrapped in clear plastic.

“Thank you,” they said in unison, even as they both frowned at the lackluster prize, their eyes darting to the oversized stuffed animals hanging high up in the stall.

Bee snapped the pair out of their daze with a gentle tap to their shoulders.  “Maybe next time you’ll battle the buzzer instead of fighting each other.”

Both children frowned, grumbling about how that was most definitely not what they’d been doing.

Bee only chuckled good naturedly and led them away from the stall.

Omoi was the first to unwrap his treat, stuffing the plastic into his pocket as he shoved the blue lollipop into his mouth.

Bee watched him carefully to see his reaction and soon loosed a full-throated laugh at the starstruck look on the boy’s face when the sugary treat hit his tongue.

If fireworks could alight from a child’s eyes, Omoi would have put on a show more than fit for the October festival.  You could all but see them shining in his wide gaze already—a display that would have shamed even the best New Year’s celebration.

“Karui!” he slurred around the too-large sucker, “you’ve gotta try yours!”

She gave Omoi a dubious look, but unwrapped her candy anyway, handing off the plastic when she realized her costume came with no functional pockets, and took one tentative lick of the candy.

Then immediately grimaced.

“Ew, Omoi, this is so gross.”

Omoi jumped in front of Karui and Bee, effectively blocking them from continuing their walk through the festival grounds.  The lanterns above cast shadows over his face that made his eyes look more sunken than usual, adding to the effect of his vampire costume even as the lollipop rather detracted from it.

“Karui, you’ve never been more wrong!  How could you not like it?!”

The incredulous tone made Gyuki laugh, and the sound reverberated through Bee’s mind as a pleasant hum.

Karui scoffed, folding her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes at his antics.

Bee wondered if he had ever seen such an impassioned response to a piece of candy.  Truly, there was no one as fervent and wholeheartedly devoted as a child who found something they enjoyed, even if it was something as simple as a lollipop.

Karui looked around and then walked toward a trash can to discard her unwanted prize.

“Wait!” Omoi cried, “I’ll take it if you don’t want it!”

Karui paused and Bee could sense the gears in her mind turning well before the smirk tugged her mouth up at one corner.  “What will you give me for it?’ she asked, sly as ever.

She’d make an incredible shinobi one day; Karui, in both Bee and Gyuki’s estimation, was already far too clever for her own good.

“You’re kidding,” Omoi said, “you’re just going to throw it away!  Why should I give you anything for it?”

Karui’s resolve did not falter.  “If you want it so bad, then I should get something in return, right Bee?”

Killer Bee handed her the piece of cellophane he still held so she could rewrap the lollipop while she negotiated.

“If something has value to you, Omoi, you must be prepared to give something in return.  That’s basic supply and demand.”

He shot the young vampire a thumb’s up, which appeared wholly unappreciated.  Omoi thought hard for a long moment, rolling his own lollipop around his mouth.  Bee cringed a little at the way the hard candy clicked against his teeth.

Karui dangled her lollipop over the trash can, pretending every few seconds to lose her grip on the stick to taunt Omoi into submission.

“Ugh, fine!  I’ll give you one toy I win tonight, your pick.”

Karui’s eyes narrowed.  “How do I know you’re going to win anything?”

Omoi growled.  “Don’t underestimate me, Karui!  Just because you sabotaged my fishing back there doesn’t mean I won’t win anything, and you know it!”

Bee found himself a little impressed at the use of the word sabotage by a ten-year-old, but knew better than to inflate the kid’s ego.  The pair of shouting children was beginning to draw some attention from onlookers, however, so he decided to step in and settle the dispute for them.

He placed a hand on Karui’s shoulder and plucked the lollipop from her grasp with the other to hand it to Omoi.

“If Omoi doesn’t win a suitable prize before the night is over, I promise to win you one in his stead,” he offered.

This seemed to placate Karui well enough, and she turned to continue marching her way through the festival grounds.  Omoi’s eyes were wide as saucers as he stuffed the second lollipop into his pocket for later.

“Thanks, Bee!”  he shouted as he tore off after Karui, shoving past her to get a better glimpse of an array of light-up toys on display at the next stall.

Might be a long night with those two.

Bee couldn’t help but agree with Gyuki and he purchased himself a stick of dango to soothe the sting of having to likely break up more than one more squabble before they returned home.

For the most part, at least, both Karui and Omoi were too enamored of the festival itself to argue much.  They stopped to watch a dance performance, joining in with other children as they swayed and twirled to the lively music drifting over the crowd.  More games of skill were played, small toys and candies won for their efforts.

Omoi shoved his treats into his pockets until they nearly burst.  Bee purchased a small plastic cauldron for Karui to keep her spoils in.

Every time Omoi won a toy or a treat, Karui would make an exaggerated show of deciding whether it was the one she would take in return for the lollipop, only to decide she was going to wait for a better one.

“I want something scary,” she said after declining yet another wrapped sweet bun in Omoi’s attempt to barter.

Bee, of course, had noticed how enamored Karui was with some of the more terrifying aspects of the festival.  The scarier costumes intrigued her more than the cute ones, the dance performance depicting a witch stealing children to bake into pies elicited plenty of giggles and gasps whereas the one about a kind forest spirit garnered no more than an impatient yawn and a whispered, “Can we go, yet?”

“Like you even know what scary means,” Omoi shouted, popping what Bee estimated to be his fourth lollipop of the evening into his mouth, “My costume is way scarier than yours!”

He took off at a run, letting his vampire cape flutter wildly in his wake.  Karui wasn’t far behind, shouting that her costume was superior in every way.

Bee felt himself finally becoming a little tired of the bickering, particularly as he watched Karui tug on Omoi’s cape hard enough for him to land on his rear in the middle of the street.  Candy spilled from his pockets, and he shouted at Karui angrily as he tried to gather it all back up.

Several families crowded around the pair as their voices rose and Bee realized he would need to intervene before it escalated further.

Once he helped Omoi collect the rest of his candy and stand up, Bee leaned down conspiratorially between the two children with a grim look on his face.  He saw the way their eyes immediately darted to the ground, expecting chastisement.

He had a feeling, however, that he might achieve better results with a different tactic.

“You know,” he said in a gruff whisper, “I actually have the scariest costume of all three of us.”

He didn’t give either of his charges time to respond before he brushed past them toward the remaining stalls, wondering if he might be able to find another stand selling dango.

He deserved it, after all, for devising such a clever way to stop the bickering between Omoi and Karui.

As he slid into line at a vendor selling taiyaki, he felt both children appear at his sides, their curiosity palpable even in air so heavy with the scent of fried food and spun sugar.

“Do you want any?” he asked the pair, but they shook their heads while he paid for his order, enjoying the first burst of sweet bean paste over his tongue as he bit into the pastry.

“Bee…” he turned toward Karui whose face was contorted into an expression of deep contemplation, “no offense, but your costume…”

She trailed off, but Omoi was apparently happy to pick up where she left off.  “It’s not scary at all!” he said dramatically, gesturing at their outfits with one sticky hand, “Our costumes are way scary.  You’re just wearing a yukata.”

“It’s pretty,” Karui added, “but not scary.”

Bee hummed around a mouthful of taiyaki, “Mm, I’m afraid you’re too young for the story, but trust me, my costume is very, very scary.”

That was all it took to have both children nipping at his heels as he continued through the streets.  They tugged at his sleeves, begged him for an explanation.

“We’re not too young, I promise!” Omoi implored.

“Yeah, and I love scary stuff!”  Karui assured him.

He patted both their heads.  “I don’t know,” he said, “I think you’re still too young.”

You’re cruel, Gyuki said, knowing full well what Bee was trying to do.

“Nuh-uh!” Omoi said, stomping one foot in a way that perfectly exemplified he was, in fact, too young for most things.

“We’ll prove it,” Karui said, managing to seem at least slightly more mature than her companion.

Bee pretended to think about it, pinching his chin between his fingers as he hummed dramatically.

“Okay, kiddos, I’ll tell you what,” he said quietly, peering overhead at the strings of lights, “if you show me you’re grown up enough, I’ll tell you the Tale of Lanterns before the night is done.”

Both their faces split into wide, devious smiles, and when their eyes met, Bee could almost hear the silent agreement that passed between them.

Yes, he decided, they’d make great teammates one day.

The rest of the night passed in relative peace.  Every time Karui made Omoi agonize over whether she might steal his next piece of candy, Bee would clear his throat and she’d abruptly decide a trade wasn’t all that necessary.  In fact, it was nearly beneath her.  When Omoi almost knocked an older woman over in his haste to get to the next game stall, Bee lamented that some children didn’t know how to respect their elders and suddenly he was helping her carry her bags to a bench so she could sit down.

Gyuki chuckled every time Bee gently corrected the children’s behavior.

You’re a menace, old friend.

Killer Bee smiled and could hardly disagree.  At least he was a menace who got results.

By the time the trio had walked the length of the festival twice, stopping at every stall and enjoying every game and trying every sample and complimenting every costume—especially the particularly gruesome ones—Bee was surprised he didn’t have to carry both children down the steep slope back to the road that would lead them home.

He imagined the inhuman amount of sugar they’d eaten during their time at the festival likely had something to do with it.

When they had departed Kumo, the sun was still high in the sky.  But as they began their return trip, Bee purchased a lantern attached to a long willow branch to carry with them and light their way.  The path carved through a dark patch of forest where the moon would be unable to trickle through the trees to provide sufficient illumination.

Though he was unafraid of bandits or other dangers, the thought of twisting an ankle in his uncomfortable sandals by stepping on a rogue tree root did not appeal to Bee in the slightest.

As the lights of the festival dimmed in their wake, and the sounds of laughter and music dwindled until all they could hear was the sound of their own footsteps, Omoi and Karui finally turned to him with broad grins.

“We were so good, Bee, weren’t we?” Omoi asked.

“Yeah!” Karui agreed heartily.  “Can you tell us about your costume, now?  Please?”

Again, he made a big show of considering whether he ought to divulge the story behind his costume.  Despite the show, however, he only made them beg a few more times before he assured them they’d been very good, indeed.

“Okay, okay,” he began, “listen close to what I say.  My story may give you a fright, so stay close to my lantern light.”

Karui and Omoi both attempted to appear brave, straightening their spines and lifting their chins defiantly as if to assure Killer Bee they wouldn’t be scared by his story.

He could feel Gyuki’s mirth simmering inside him, the Tailed Beast already well aware of Bee’s intentions and waiting for the moment when he would be able to contribute to the ruse.

Bee shrugged when the two children declined his invitation to stay closer to the light and continued walking, holding the lantern aloft as they made their way through the tangle of roots and underbrush.

“Nights in these wood aren’t always calm, often the wind rages ‘til dawn.  On one such night not long ago, these trees were battered by a dastardly foe.  Not only wind but lightning an’ rain, maimed these woods and left ‘em in pain.  When villagers came to clean up the mess, they found a small cabin, but there was no one left.”

He glanced over his shoulder to find Karui and Omoi raptly listening to his story, Omoi still sucking on a lollipop—his last from the festival, if Bee had counted them right.  Karui, meanwhile, paid no attention to the candy or toys she’d won, eyes wide and an anticipatory smile stretched across her face as she waited for the scary part of his tale.

“The door was gone, there was a hole in the roof.  They searched all ‘round, but found no proof, so they trekked back to their cozy homes,” he paused for effect, “And it wasn’t ‘til night they heard the moans.”  This turns of events earned him faint gasps came from both Karui and Omoi.

Bee stretched his free arm wide, palm facing out and fingers fanned, gesturing toward the vast, dark wilderness around them.  “From somewhere in the trees came an awful cry, the villagers woke and looked on high.  There, near the cabin, was a lantern light, dodging and dipping through the trees, so bright.”

Bee could feel the children behind him becoming more enraptured and tense with each line of his story, but he didn’t turn to look at them again as he continued.

“They wasted no time setting out to find that missing soul in the lantern glow.”

He dropped his voice low so his rapt audience would have to lean forward and listen more keenly if they wanted to hear what he was saying.

“When they reached the cabin, there was no one there, just that ghastly moan still filling th’ air.  For years and years, no one entered the woods, too stoked in fear that they meant no good.”

Bee spun around, suppressing a grin when Karui and Omoi stepped back, surprised by his move.  When they realized they were almost at the edge of the light cast by his lantern, they shuffled closer, eyes wide as they listened.  When Bee spoke again, Omoi reached out to grasp Karui’s hand and she didn’t pull it away, but instead wrapped her fingers tightly around his and squeezed.

“And then one night a lot like this, one brave soul struck out in the mist.  They brought no lantern of their own, relying on the moonglow and followin’ the moans still echoing in the trees each night, until finally they found…” Bee tilted his face down, casting himself in deeper shadow for dramatic effect, “that lantern light.”

Karui and Omoi gasped again, and Bee took a step closer, swinging the lantern high over their heads.

“But though they saw the light at last, there was no on there in the darkness vast.  They stepped closer to the lantern floating through the leaves, and suddenly there kicked up a breeze.”

Karui and Omoi shivered as Bee channeled chakra into one foot, kicking it back with enough force to make it seem like a gust of wind was blowing through the woods.  The two children hovered closer, gripping one another’s hands so tight their knuckles blanched.

“When they opened their eyes, the forest was bright—lanterns everywhere in sight!  Hovering in branches or low to the ground, they turned to find ‘em all around.  Just as they were about to run—”

Bee blew out the lantern with a flourish and was rewarded with a sharp shout of surprise from both Omoi and Karui.

“The lights went out and they were done.  The cries echoing all around increased and they knew they were about to face a terrible beast!”

You’re vicious, Gyuki’s mind echoed in Bee’s brain just as he allowed himself to be cloaked in Gyuki’s chakra, the red energy cascading over him until Bee all but disappeared within it.  The glow of the Tailed Beast’s energy lit the forest an angry crimson.

Gyuki’s voice melded with Bee’s as they roared in unison.

Omoi and Karui screamed, Omoi’s lollipop falling from his mouth and landing in the leaves as they clutched at one another.

Bee didn’t make them suffer long and the chakra cloak retreated a moment later as he relit the lantern with a spark of fire from his fingertip.

“And that’s why you shouldn’t go out at night, ‘less you bring your own lantern light, yeah!”

Karui and Omoi stared at him, knees trembling as they panted in half-terror.  After a moment, they both launched themselves at Bee, clutching at his waist as he tried not to chuckle.

“To this day, on the darkest nights, if you look to the mountain, you can see the light of that lost soul’s lantern flickerin’ in the trees.”  He patted Omoi’s head first and then Karui’s fondly as they clutched at his side.  “But you’re safe as long as you’re with me, yeah,” he promised, shooting them both an affectionate smile as they stepped out of the forest, the familiar and welcoming lights of Kumo finally coming into sight.

They walked in silence a while, Bee’s arms around each child’s shoulders on either side of him.  Then, Omoi’s voice cut through the silence and Bee turned to find his brows pinched together in thought.  “But Bee… what does that story have to do with why your costume is scarier than ours?”

His question seemed to provoke something in Karui, whose head snapped toward Bee with such velocity he wondered how her witch’s hat didn’t fly off.

“Yeah!  You said your costume was the scariest of all three of ours, but that story didn’t have anything to do with it!  It’s still just a dumb yukata!”

Killer Bee stopped in his tracks, making Omoi and Karui almost trip as they felt their momentum suddenly arrested.

He turned to stare down at them, lifting the lantern high overhead once more as he let Gyuki’s powerful chakra leak out.

“Who said the Yukata was my costume?” he asked as he was bathed in crimson energy.

“Okay!  Okay!”

“We get it!”

“Yeah, it’s really scary!”

“So scary, please—”

Omoi’s placation was cut off by Bee’s hearty laugh as the cloak receded again.  He patted their heads and started walking toward home.

“Happy Halloween, kids,” he said, smiling fondly.

When they both returned the grin and shouted, “Happy Halloween, Bee!” he knew the long trip on foot, even in his uncomfortable sandals, had been more than worth it.

And when he dropped them off at their respective homes, both children assured him they weren’t really all that scared to begin with.

“It was a good story,” Karui asserted, “but I wasn’t really that frightened.”

“Yeah,” Omoi agreed, “what’s so scary about a lantern, anyway?”

Bee only nodded, agreeing they’d both been very brave and assuring them it was only a story, anyway.  Still, he noticed as he walked back past Karui’s house after dropping Omoi off that the light in her bedroom remained on, a frail beacon against the darkness.

You could have gone easier on them, Gyuki chided, they’re only kids.

Bee chuckled as he made his way home to finally rid himself of the uncomfortable geto he still wore.

“They didn’t fight the rest of the night, did they?  And besides,” Bee said as he finally kicked off the sandals, sighing and wiggling his toes in relief, “What’s Halloween without a scary story?”

Gyuki was still chuckling as Bee finally drifted to sleep, his dreams filled with floating lanterns and the laughter of Omoi and Karui as they bartered with one another for candy and toys.

[moviesandmania]

TO CATCH A KILLER (2023) Crime thriller with Shailene Woodley - trailer and release news

To Catch a Killer is a 2023 American crime thriller in which a talented yet troubled police officer is recruited by the FBI’s chief investigator to help profile and track down an elusive mass murderer. Also titled Misanthrope Directed and co-produced by Damián Szifron (Wild Tales; On Probation;  The Bottom of the Sea) from a screenplay co-written with Jonathan Wakeham. Also produced by Aaron…

[screenmovie]

Ben Mendelsohn as Lammark,

To Catch a Killer (2023), directed by Damián Szifron and written by him & Jonathan Wakeham.