Movie Review: Sleeping Through “Awakening The Zodiac”

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

The story follows a down-on-their-luck couple who discovers a serial killer’s film reels.

Are you familiar with the Rule of Thirds? Basically, it goes like: two’s a number, three’s a pattern. “Awakening The Zodiac” definitely could have benefitted from this rule. Now, before I get into picking apart this thriller, I do want to go on record saying: the cinematography is incredibly well done! It surprises you given that you’ve probably never heard of this movie before. I thoroughly enjoyed watching even conversation scenes because the picture was just so darn nuanced. Also, jump scares abound in this movie.

Basically, a trailer park couple uncovers tapes the Zodiac filmed of his kills. They decide to cash in on it, but their ‘investigation’ draws the attention of a killer long thought retired (it’s the Zodiac killer in case you didn’t catch that.) While the couple, along with their paranoid business partner (and semi-homeless antique store dealer) Harv, hunt the Zodiac’s origins, the Zodiac hunts them.

One of the best things AtZ does is make sense. Mostly. The story has a natural flow to it I kind of miss from bigger movies. We do A, and then B happens so we now have to go do C. It’s math. It’s nice too cause it prevents me from nitpicking. Kudos to the screenwriters for crafting inherent movie logic. Which came at a high cost for this movie.

My main complaint! And this is the only one that really matters: We needed a third kill. Which is a small way of saying everything could have been dialed up to eleven. It would’ve awoken me. We’ve got a serial killer. We’ve got a down-on-their-luck couple to semi-root for. We’ve got a ‘sketchy’ business partner. We’ve got a conspiracy. That’s great. Now, blow it up to eleven.

Like, the Third Kill. I get it. The Zodiac Killer is back and hunting these would-be crime solvers. (Also shout out to Stephen McHattie for playing the Zodiac killer and lifting the finale into more excitable watching.) We get a LOT of teasing and not a lot of killing. Two’s a number, three’s a pattern. And we’re offered so many different subjects to kill. That might have raised the stakes even more for us. Instead of thinking ‘This guy is a retired serial killer,’ we could have felt ‘This guy is back with a vengeance.’ We’re even given an explanation at the end as to why Zodiac kills more people. So, let’s kill more people!

All in all, this is a movie I’d rent from my DVR on a Friday night after deciding to ‘try something new.’ Beautifully made. The rollercoaster equivalent of the teacups ride at Disney world (still fun, but definitely not Splash Mountain.) All it really made me do is wanna watch more True Crime stories.

P.S. The ending’s final jump scare…. Overhyped. The last five minutes were unnecessary.

In theaters June 9th