I Am Not a Serial Killer, with its Blake reference and the talks surrounding intrusive thoughts, would remind one of Von Trier’s The House that Jack Built, but it lacks the dread. We watch John, the protagonist, with bated breath as he traverses the waters of being ‘normal’ and almost on the verge of turning into a serial killer. The film, which appears to be a mystery, also sheds its disposition and turns out to be supernatural.
I am Not a Serial Killer (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
In Clayton County, Virginia, John Wayne Cleaver witnesses an ambulance driving out a dead body from a crime scene. The dead body–which an onlooker describes as being torn by something– is so mutilated that while moving it, the internal organs spill all over the street. Besides being in the senior high, John also works at their family funeral home. Alarmingly, John’s engrossment in serial killers, in general, is a cause for concern. It lands him with a therapist who reports that he is a person with antisocial personality disorder. A second murder in a similar fashion, that is, the removal of organs from the dead body, compels John and the rest of the town to consider that there is a serial killer on the loose.
What is also common at all the crime scenes is the presence of a black sludge. When John is out trick-or-treating with his friend, Max, he spots an unidentifiable man lurking in the dark, loitering around the house of Bill Crowley, his older neighbor. John confronts his high school bully at the Halloween dance party and threatens to cut him open. However, he also says that he resists the urge only so that he does not end up getting likened to a serial killer.
While recounting the events that transpired the night before to his therapist, Grant, John spots the mystery man again and decides to follow him. He overhears the man offering a hand to Mr. Crowley on his ice fishing trip. He follows them on his cycle and watches them from a distance. The man tries to stab Crowley in his back. But, much to the horrors of John, Crowley retorts faster by plunging his arm–which has metamorphosized into a branch-like shape– into his chest.
Even more shockingly, John watches in horror as Crowley replaces his blackened lungs with the healthier ones of the dead man. The recent murders, on the other hand, are connected to one Emmet T. Openshaw, a man who disappeared in 1971 from Arizona. That night, John tries following Mr. Crowley and his wife, Kay, to a diner. To his surprise, he finds his mother and Grant dining.
John follows Crowley to a barbershop owned by a man named Greg. Interestingly, Greg was the man with whom Kay danced the previous night when Crowley was feeling uneasy. This made Crowley insanely envious and go after him. When John understands what comes next– now Crowley will attack Greg– he sets off the alarm of the shop from the outside. This draws two police officers in, but Crowley kills them as well. The killings cause Crowley to gain back his power, and his limping goes away. John notices Crowley dragging Greg’s body and figures out that he had swapped his disintegrating leg with Greg’s leg, which caused the limping to go away.
Pulling off an “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” John leaves a note on Crowley’s car, secretly stating that he is aware of what Crowley is. When the townspeople come together that night as a mark of support to each other, John overhears Kay saying that Crowley has not been out of the house for more than a week. Kay requests John to visit Crowley, where he finds him reciting William Blake’s ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger.’ For the next few days, John is completely engrossed in studying folklore, myths, and serial killers and drawing parallels to Crowley’s profile.
On Christmas Eve, John directly confronts Crowley through a phone call, albeit by keeping his identity hidden, and asks him about Openshaw. Soon, John realizes that Crowley is coming after him. Unprepared, John runs into Max’s home to hide from Crowley. After John says that he has been friends with Max because that makes him normal, a disappointed Max throws him out of his house. Walking down a few steps, he finds Crowley killing Max’s father. However, John cannot save him, and Crowley is still not aware of John’s identity due to his ski mask. John is shaken and disturbed after Max’s father’s funeral. John’s mother’s attempt at striking up a conversation with John becomes hostile when he takes out a knife and threatens her.
What was the last conversation between John and Grant all about?
Amid the increasing death tolls, John’s last conversation with Grant bears the marker of his mental state. Knowing all this while as a person with antisocial personality disorder, this is perhaps John’s most vulnerable moment as he asks Grant about the reason that holds him back to the place despite him witnessing the evil firsthand. Grant explains to John that for someone with an antisocial personality disorder, leaving is easy as there is no emotional connection that is being broken. For others, love might hold them back.
This conversation, conversely, might also explain how John plans to trap Crowley. When Crowley tries to leave, the one thing that might bring him back is the object of his love: Kay. The next day, John plants a GPS tracker in Bill’s car to track him. When Bill is out, John breaks into their house and sends him a photo of Kay sleeping to threaten him. Amidst all this, there is also a time when John panics when he believes that he has accidentally killed Kay. However, when Kay is back in her senses, John escapes.
I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Crowley dead?
Soon, Crowley arrives, and John finds that this time, he has killed Grant. John quickly moves out of Grant’s body, which still has the organs intact, and hides it away from Crowley. At Max’s father’s memorial service, John confronts Crowley when the latter asks for the exact location of the body. Crowley needs the fresh heart of Grant, and to find one, he can go to the extent of killing John. John notices that Crowley does not have much time left with a bad heart. After the service, John does not find his mother and goes inside the house to find her.
He finds her lying unconscious on the embalming table with Crowley sitting beside her. Crowley demands Grant’s body. John misdirects him and knocks him out. John and his mother then start the embalming process of Crowley. As they drain out the blackened blood, a monster takes shape from the black gunk. The monster– which is what is left of Crowley– asks John to look after Kay in his absence.
In the final moments, we see that Crowley is reported to be missing. John meets Kay in the aftermath of Bill’s disappearance. Kay lovingly recounts the memories of their relationship. At last, John, his mother, and aunt begin the embalming process of Grant.
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