Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Postcard Killings’ on Netflix, A Cop Drama Based on a James Patterson Book

The 2020 crime drama, The Postcard Killings, has found new life on Netflix after the streamer added it to its library this week. Based on the 2010 novel The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund, and directed by Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović, it’s a generic, paint-by-numbers detective tale, about a weathered New York City cop tracking down the serial killer who mutilated his daughter. Yet its popularity —currently the No. 1 movie on the Netflix Top 10 movies list—proves that audiences never tire of the classics. 

THE POSTCARD KILLINGS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Jacob Kanon (played by The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a New York City cop who gets the worst call a father can get: His daughter is dead. She’s not just dead—she and her new husband were brutally murdered while traveling in Europe. A mysterious sick killer drained their blood, mutilated their bodies, and stuffed other body parts from other victims in their orifices.

It quickly becomes clear that this is the work of a serial killer. More young couples end up murdered across Europe. Before each killing, a local journalist is sent a postcard, featuring an famous work of art, and a cryptic, hand-written line about the trials of love. Each note ends with an ellipsis, implying there are more murders to come. Jacob, frustrated by the slow place of the local authorities, investigates the killings on his own. You better believe he’s not gonna go by the book, either! He’s an American!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: This movie is sort of like Taken without the dope action scenes, but it’s more similar to every episode of CSI you’ve ever watched. 

Performance Worth Watching: Though he’s had a long and fruitful television career, Jeffrey Dean Morgan hasn’t yet managed to make the jump to movie star. Unfortunately, The Postcard Killings likely won’t help him achieve that goal. That said, he does get to show off his drama chops with some heartfelt breakdowns over the death of his little girl. 

Memorable Dialogue: At one point, a reporter asks Jacob, “Do you like herring?” You know, as in red ones.

Sex and Skin: There are a few PG-13 shots of the naked, mutilated victims. There’s absolutely nothing sexy about it.

Our Take: This is not a good movie. It’s a classic, generic James Patterson story where the characters have little to no personality traits whatsoever. Every character could switch lines, and it would barely change the movie. Detective Jacob Kanon is so bland, he barely counts as grizzled. The plot makes a half-hearted attempt to be “sick and twisted,” by flirting with the idea of incest— but chickens out at the end. So it doesn’t even have that going for it.

Some of the leaps made make little sense, and are explained with the briefest of expository dialogue. That means if you’re looking at your phone while watching this movie—which I’m willing to bet a lot of people will be—you’ll be lost. The plot is not terribly complex, but it is scattered. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that five people—Tove Alsterdal, Ellen, Brown Furman, Liza Marklund, Andrew Stern, Lena Štivičić—are credited with writing the screenplay. The fact that English is not the first language of the director and at least some of the writers may also explain the rote, generic dialogue. 

Our Call: If you’re a Patterson fanatic, maybe you’ll get some enjoyment from The Postcard Killings. For the rest of us, this is just another flavorless, unimaginative cop movie. Spare yourself the 105 minutes and SKIP IT.