London Road (4 Stars)

How can a film about a serial killer be a psychological thriller? It all depends on how the story is framed. We never see the killer on screen. We hear his name, and we even see the house where he lives, 79 London Road, Ipswich, but we don't see Steve Wright  himself. The film is about the residents of London Road and how they deal with murders taking place in their neighbourhood.

When the killings are first reported, there's an atmosphere of paranoia. The killer could be anyone. Teenage girls ride the bus, asking one another, "Is it him? Is it him? Is it him?" The taxi driver Mark, played by Tom Hardy, talks to his customers in a way that arouses suspicions. He tells them that he's been interested in serial killers ever since he was young, and he describes what the killer must be like: he must be 28 to 35, single or divorced and a loner. These descriptions fit Mark himself, so he's fast to add that it isn't him.

The film is a musical, and the most unique thing about it is that the lyrics weren't written. They're the transcripts of the interviews made with the residents of London Road. This gives the film a stark realism, despite everyone singing and sometimes dancing.

The next door neighbour of Steve Wright is interviewed. How would you react if you found out your next door neighbour was a killer? Admittedly, you would never have been in danger, because he only targeted prostitutes, but it would still have been unsettling. It's possible that the women were killed in his home, but Steve Wright cleverly covered his tracks. The only DNA traces were slight amounts of blood found on the back seat of his car and inside his gloves.

To this day Steve Wright has never admitted his guilt. He committed the five murders shortly after moving to Ipswich, within a space of six weeks, but he's suspected of the murders of up to 15 other women when he lived in Norwich. In May 2024 he was charged with the murder of a 17-year-old girl that took place in 1999. The other cases are still open. As I said, he was a clever man. But everyone makes a mistake eventually. If he hadn't killed the women in Ipswich, he would never have been suspected of the other murders.

Success Rate:  - 13.9

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