As far as serial killer thrillers are considered, Netflix’s latest release, “The Whisper Man” follows all the tropes associated with the subgenre, making a strong case for itself to be considered a good entry overall. However, the movie falls victim to the tendency of biting off more than it can chew, which is to say it juggles way too many ideas which hinders its chance to present a coherent story, and somewhat affects the experience in the process. Also, there is a latent supernatural element in the movie, which enhances the narrative without hampering the grounded, dark tone of the narrative. [Spoilers Ahead]
Whisper Man Ruined Detective Peter’s Life
The movie opens in the present timeline of 2026, as Detective Amanda Beck of Garretton PD leads a search for a missing local young boy, Neil Spencer. During the search, the police find the murdered corpse of another young boy, and the clues left by the killer makes Amanda believe it to be the handiwork of a notorious serial killer, the Whisper Man, whose legend still haunts this small town. During 1993-1994, five young boys were similarly abducted and murdered by this infamous killer, who left a recorded conversation between himself and his victims to taunt their parents and investigators. This killer in question, Frank Carter, an extremely calculating psychopath, was abused by his father in his childhood, and with a broken psyche, he wanted to inflict the same pain onto his own son. An inability to do so prompted Frank to find victims in other boys of his son’s age, and before killing his victims, he used to cover their faces to imagine them as his own son. Frank specifically targeted vulnerable boys who suffered due to a lonesome existence, and had created this Pied Piper kind of ritual of verbal suggestions to draw them outside their house. Frank was eventually captured by the then Detective Peter Willis. The grueling investigation took a toll on Peter’s mind, especially because amidst this cat-and-mouse game between Frank and Peter, Peter’s family’s safety was jeopardized.
A sadistic Frank used to send letters to Peter, threatening him about his son, Tom’s life, to get under his skin. Peter took up alcoholism to cope with the demanding, demented nature of his investigation, and ended up distancing himself from his family in the process. Even though the investigation was officially closed after Frank’s capture, which was made possible by extracting intel from his wife and son, Peter couldn’t rest easy, not knowing the corpse of the fifth victim, Tony Smith. As he threw himself more and more into his search, Peter’s alcoholic tendencies worsened, causing him to sever his ties with his family. At present, Rebecca decides to visit Peter at his place to request him to provide some insight regarding the investigation, given she believes the Whisper Man killings have restarted in Garretton. However, with Frank still serving jail time, and details about his unknown accomplice being unavailable, she doesn’t have much to work on with. Also, Frank is willing to speak only with Peter, hence his assistance is needed to find clues about his possible connection with recent abductions. Despite the fact that he still hasn’t been able to let go of the case, Peter refuses to help Amanda in the investigation, as he is still reeling from the impact of the investigation three decades ago.
A grown up Tom has become a successful detective fiction writer, has raised a family with his wife Rebecca and their son, Jake. Having an estranged relationship with his old man, Tom has not allowed him to be a part of his family. Recently, Rebecca has passed away after tragically losing her battle with terminal illness, and her death has been affecting the sensitive Jake quite a lot. Tom decides to move to Rebecca’s hometown and Garretton, and the father-son duo shift to a new house. He himself is having a hard time coping with his wife’s passing, and following his old man’s footsteps, has taken up the booze to occasionally numb his senses. The pain of losing his mother has caused Jake to conjure an imaginary friend, a girl in blue sweater, and upon learning this, Tom assures him by mentioning he too had an imaginary friend, Mr. Night, while growing up. Tom encourages Jake to make new friends at school, but clearly the kid needs time to adjust to the new environment and has some behavioural issues that were inculcated into him by his father.
On one occasion, Tom is horrified after realizing Jake is speaking with someone who is trying to break into their new home, and the next day, he has a run in with a man who flees from his basement. Informing the authorities remains ineffective, except the fact that Tom finds a hidden section inside the basement which seems to have been used for nefarious purposes. Tom decides to put up a surveillance system around the house, and on one occasion, he inspects Jake speaking with his imaginary friend in his room. Jake reveals his imaginary friend is afraid of ‘the boy inside the floor’. Already burdened with anxiety, concerns for his son and the trauma of losing his wife, Tom lashes out on Jake, who appears disheartened to the fact that his father doesn’t believe him. Not long after, one night Tom is horrified upon finding Jake is missing, and as he brings the authorities, a look at the surveillance footage reveals Jake left their home on his own.
Who is the New Whisper Man?
A desperate Tom meets with Peter, not to reconcile with his father, but to seek help from the proficient investigator that he is. Peter’s past regrets almost make him hesitate, but he eventually decides to lend Rebecca a hand in the investigation. Searching on his own, Tom learns a certain Dominic Barnett, an ex-con, used to be the former owner of his home, whom he believes to be connected with the recent abductions. Impatient with the pace of police investigation, Tom decides to look into Dominic’s activities on his own, and nearly gets himself into trouble with muggers, until Peter rescues him from the scene. Peter reveals Dominic himself has been missing for the last six months, and Tom wonders whether the abductor is settling a grudge he might have had with Peter. However, given Tom refused to take up his father’s identity and took his mother’s surname, that seems an unlikely possibility. Peter is hesitant about speaking with Frank Carter ever again, much to Tom’s dismay.
However, when Neil Spencer’s corpse is found, Peter realizes Jake is running out of time, and from a clue involving trimmed fingernails, he realizes the Whisper Man killings are indeed linked to these abduction-murder cases. During their interrogation, Frank tries to guilt-trip Peter by reminding him of his failure, and mocks how his son, Tom, has been trying to live up to his father by manifesting his presence through his detective novels – he explicitly mentions that denied of his father’s presence, Tom is trying to mythologize Peter in his novels.
Believing Carter might have found a way to continue the killings by instructing the copycat killer from the prison, Rebecca and Peter check up on the frequent visitors who used to meet with him. A certain Norman Collins, an eccentric collector of morbid items, appears to have visited the prison where Carter is held, as he used to meet with a pedophile named Victor Tyler. Believing Tyler to be a messenger between Frank and Norman, Amanda and Peter coerce him to comply with the investigation to avoid being transferred to a facility where his life will be at risk.
In the meantime, the mysterious copycat killer sends Jake’s recorded audio to the police, which gets to Tom as he laments his failure as a father. Peter brings Tom to his place, and while sharing their mutual grief of struggles of parenthood, Peter reveals he was the imaginary friend, Mr. Night, who Tom believed was his emotional anchor in childhood. At night, Tom finds out the letters Frank Carter had sent to Peter, and looking at them, Tom has a crisis of faith. Later, he questions Peter’s credibility by showing the letters to Amanda.
Unable to trust Peter completely, Tom once again begins investigating on his own, and finds out Norman Collins is trying to reach the basement of his new home. While Tom initially believes him to be the copycat killer, it turns out the basement hid the remains of Carter’s fifth victim, Tony Smith, and that of Dominic Barnett as well. Dominic was Frank Carter’s unknown accomplice, and he let Frank hide his fifth victim in his house’s basement – as Jake mentioned, “the boy on the inside floor”. Norman had paid Carter to collect a morbid ‘souvenir’ from Tony Smith’s remains, and Dominic had brought him in his place to have him collect it. However, Dominic had insulted Norman, making him angry enough to kill him in the heat of the moment, and stuff his body inside a hidden chamber in the basement. The intruder who fled from the home back then, was Norman, as he couldn’t help but return time and again to the crime scene in fear of getting exposed.
As the investigators confront Norman and force him to reveal the intel about Jake Kennedy. Even though a neurotic Norman takes his own life to avoid repercussions from his actions, he reveals that in exchange for the souvenir, he had helped Frank connect with someone he wanted to meet. This person in question is the new copycat killer, who was inspired to take up Frank’s demented legacy following the meeting. From the clues left by Carter during their last visit to him, about mythologizing one’s absent parents – Peter figures out that Carter’s own son, Francis, is the new copycat killer. Back then, Francis and mother had ratted out Carter. The fact that Frank’s vile mindset made him imagine his victims as his own son, speaks volumes about how the corrupted father-son dynamic had broken Francis’ psyche. During his meeting with Amanda and Peter, Carter wanted to meet with his family with the intention to end them, which is enough to make one assume what kind of conversation might have happened between Francis and Frank when Norman arranged their meeting. To earn validation from his old man, Francis decided to carry on his legacy by becoming the new Whisper Man.
What Happened to Jake in the End?
Peter goes to meet Frank once again, this time, he is the one to get under his skin by mentioning his corrupted relationship with his own sexual predator father, and son. As Frank gets all worked up in anger, Peter promises to have Francis handed over to him like he wanted if he reveals the whereabouts of Jake. This is a disturbing moment as dwindling in darkness is revealed to have affected Peter’s humanity, who is letting a serial killer satiate his bloodlust to find a headway in the investigation.
In the meantime, Amanda has found Francis in the house of his childhood counselor, whom he has murdered as well. Amanda fails to rescue Jake or to stop Francis as he stabs her repeatedly before fleeing, taking Jake alongside him. Francis takes Jake to Carter’s old workspace, the basement of Tom’s new home, to subject him to the same fate as Tony Smith, and learning about his planning from Carter, Peter informs his son about everything. Both Peter and Tom arrive in the house, and in the ensuing fight with Francis, Peter gets fatally stabbed. Jake’s imaginary friend draws him to the attic, where he sits in the specific spot to draw Francis to him, and causes him to fall through the attic to get knocked out. Peter’s sacrifice allowed Jake’s survival, and for what it’s worth, Tom reconciled with his old man during his dying moments.
Peter kept his word, as Francis is sent to prison and Carter is allowed the chance to kill him by strangling him to death. Amanda, who survived, receives a thank you letter from Carter, and it remains unknown whether she too is going to become the Whisper Man’s pen pal like Peter was.
Normalcy returns gradually, Tom and Jake have shifted to Peter’s house, but it will be a long time before Jake gets to recover from the harrowing experiences he was subjected to during the last few days. Jake seems to have made new friends, and as he plays outside, Tom looks at the old images of Rebecca Jake used to keep with him. As the movie concludes, much to his shock, Tom finds out that the girl in blue sweater, Jake’s imaginary friend, was inspired by an image of Rebecca’s younger self. The supernatural connection is hinted at by the fact that not only did the imaginary friend protect Jake in times of peril, but Jake’s remark about “boy inside the floor” already hinted at Tony Smith’s fate before the thorough investigation.
