AWAKENING THE ZODIAC

US, 2017, 100 minutes, Colour.
Shane West, Leslie Bibb, Matt Craven, Nicholas Campbell, Kenneth Welsh, Stephen Mc Hattie.
Directed by Jonathan Wright.

This is a rather slight crime drama, capitalising on audience interest in the Zodiac murders in the 1960s, the investigations, the failure to find the killer, the many television programs and feature films on the subject.

There is certainly an audience interest and has been over the decades.

This film capitalises on memories of the Zodiac killer. It opens with a recreation of one of the killings, a young dating couple, the killer disguised as a policeman, confronting them, their deaths.

The film then moves forward with various investigators, and a veteran Canadian cast including Matt Craven, Kenneth Welsh, Stephen Mc Hattie, Nicholas Campbell, and the finding of some film remains which give a lead for the identity of the killer.

A young couple, played by Shane West and Leslie Bibb, undertake the investigation with the help of an expert. This leads to a killer, played by Stephen Mc Hattie. He plays the young couple, eventually capturing them, putting them in danger, leading to confrontations and his seeming death wish.

The film is a thriller exercise in investigation and fiction, what if…?