Max Records, the striking young lad from Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are (2009) is all grown up now, and is ready to make his mark playing a psychologically damaged teenager in I Am Not A Serial Killer. The film, based on the novel by Dan Wells, is set in a small, eerily quiet town where nothing much happens – until a serial killer starts taking victims. Records plays John, a troubled high schooler who has been diagnosed with sociopathy, his therapist says he expresses serial killer tendencies. He lives with his mother (played by Laura Fraser) above the morgue she owns, which he helps her operate. As business starts to boom and John gets to examine the bodies first-hand, he takes it upon himself to uncover the identity of the mysterious serial killer. Every thriller needs a red herring, in this case it is the kind old man who lives in the neighbourhood played by Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future). There’s always a twist in this kind of ‘teenage boy suspects the old man down the street and no one believes him’ movie, and it may be too obvious that it will turn out to be John himself.

Max Records, who displayed such comfort with being in front of the camera in Where The Wild Things Are has an opportunity here to really flex his acting muscles – and this is such a good, complex role for him to tackle. From the trailer and clips released online it really does look like he gives a stellar breakthrough performance which could set him up for a quality acting career. He appears to take on the role with an ease and playfulness which can be seen in the clip below, where he explains that if he feels like he wants to kill someone he smiles and pays them a compliment instead. If nothing else, the prospect of seeing his performance makes this film very enticing.

Directed by Billy O’Brien, I Am Not A Serial Killer is a moody coming of age thriller with an exciting ghost-town atmosphere, which is aided by gorgeous looking cinematography shot on film with hairs in the gate throughout the trailer. The film has just been released in the US and will hit theatres in the UK in December. You can watch the trailer and a clip below.

Max Records in I Am Not A Serial Killer

Christopher Lloyd and Max Records in I Am Not A Serial Killer