Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Grisly violence, language in book-based crime thriller.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
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Where to Watch
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The Postcard Killings
What's the Story?
In THE POSTCARD KILLINGS, Jacob Kanon (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a New York detective who has just identified the body of his daughter in the morgue. She was the victim of what appears to be a serial killer or killers who are going through Europe, finding newlywed couples, killing them, then leaving them at the crime scene posed like different art masterpieces housed in the local museums. Before the murder, they always send a postcard to a local journalist. Determined to track down the person or people responsible, Kanon goes from London to Madrid, Stockholm, Berlin, and Helsinki, desperately searching for clues and patterns that might show where the next murders will happen. He's either helped or hindered by the local police of these cities, depending on their willingness to do what it takes to get results, or to go strictly by the book.
Is It Any Good?
This movie is essentially an "airplane read" in celluloid form. It should come as no surprise, since The Postcard Killings is based on the novel The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund. It's great for absorbing your attention for the time being, but there isn't anything particularly innovative or groundbreaking about it. The moments of New York detective Jacob Kanon (played effectively by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) grieving as he tries to make sense out of the senseless and grisly murder of his daughter reveal more than the minimum required for the audience to root for his pursuit of those responsible. However, these moments are counterbalanced by the kind of stock dialogue always spoken by stock detectives who are willing to do whatever it takes to catch the bad guys, rules and bureaucracy (European bureaucracy, at that) be damned.
Those looking for escapism through an action thriller won't be disappointed. The acting is very good, and the major plot twist should throw many for a loop, assuming they don't see it from a mile away. It's just that, even with the graphic imagery of the murder victims -- with severed body parts, drained of blood, and posed to look like art masterpieces -- there's nothing especially memorable about the movie. Nonetheless, it's a movie that will help you forget that you're stuck on a flight to, say, Orlando, surrounded by mouse-eared tourists and their shrieking kids.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in movies. Was the violence (or the aftermath of the violence) in The Postcard Killings too graphic, or was it necessary for the story? Why?
What would be the challenges in adapting a movie based on a novel?
How does the movie show the grieving of the parents? What would be lost if that hadn't been shown in the movie?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : March 13, 2020
- Cast : Jeffrey Dean Morgan , Famke Janssen , Joachim Krol
- Director : Danis Tanovic
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : RLJE Films
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Book Characters , Family Stories ( Siblings )
- Run time : 104 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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