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One of the most famous serial killers in American history is the “Boston Strangler,” who killed more than a dozen women in the 1960s. The film Boston Strangler, soon to be released, it will recreate the haunting true story for a new generation and has just received the first photos. The film stars Carrie Coon And Keira Knightley as female reporters trying to uncover the figure behind the brutal crimes and who were also the ones to figure out that the crimes were likely connected and committed by a single figure, instead of being a random series of gruesome encounters. The Boston Strangler will premiere on Hulu on March 17.
The film follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first reporter to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta tries to continue her investigation together with colleague and confidante Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), but the duo find themselves hampered by the rampant sexism of the time. Nonetheless, McLaughlin and Cole continue the story at great personal risk, risking their own lives in an attempt to uncover the truth.
The film also stars Alessandro Nivola, David Dastmalchian, Morgan Spector, Bill Camp and Chris Cooper.
“Growing up in Boston, I’d always heard of the Strangler in a very abstract sense, but I didn’t know anything about the details of the case and a few years ago I started researching it and discovered a really fascinating and layered serial killer story,” said the director at Empire Magazine. “I have always loved journalism stories and in researching the case I discovered these two journalists, starting with Loretta McLaughlin, the first journalist to connect the murders and who named the Boston Strangler in her report. It was a truly monumental story for her career in the early 1960s. She was a very ambitious journalist in a male dominated industry and this was a real turning point for her.”
Even after the initial interest in telling this story, Ruskin realized he had another connection to the historic event.
“Reading about Loretta and her partner Jean Cole, the other reporter she worked with, I discovered that Jean Cole’s niece is an old friend of mine,” Ruskin admitted. “I called her and asked, ‘Is Jean Cole your grandmother?’ She said yes and that she loved her, so she introduced me to both Loretta and Jean’s families, who welcomed me with open arms, gave me access to old photos, newspaper clippings and shared history. At that point I fell in love and dedicated myself to telling their stories”.
While parts of the area looked somewhat similar to those of the 1960s, the director described some of the challenges the production faced.
“A lot of old Boston is gone,” Ruskin admitted. “There are certainly old neighborhoods with old buildings, but it’s very difficult to shoot a period film nowadays, particularly in Boston where so much has changed. There is always some element that is not suitable for the period. We shot in the winter and some of those cars don’t start in the middle of January! But we had a wonderful group of people and I’m proud to have shot the film in Boston, very close to many of the real locations, it was an incredible opportunity to be able to recreate that period.
Boston Strangler debuts on Hulu on March 17.
Can’t wait to see the new movie? Let us know in the comments!
