Setting out with a plan of deconstructing the
Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots
Setting out with a plan of deconstructing the true crime documentary genre, filmmaker Charlie Shackleton’s “Zodiac Killer Project” certainly should get a lot…
Setting out with a plan of deconstructing the true crime documentary genre, filmmaker Charlie Shackleton’s “Zodiac Killer Project” certainly should get a lot of credit for the ambitious idea alone. But this intriguing concept is frustrating rather than entertaining, and the film feels more like a slow dry lecture about the mechanics of true crime documentaries than a real game changer.
The film features Shackleton essentially describing the documentary he wanted to make about the Zodiac Killer but couldn’t, mainly because he was unsuccessful in securing the rights to the story. Instead of being a documentary about the Zodiac, it becomes an analysis of the genre itself. In theory, it sounds incredibly interesting. But in practice, it’s more of a monotonous series of voice overs paired with static shots of mundane locations like kitchens, hallways, empty streets, and diner booths. It’s not visually engaging at all, which makes it feel like you’re watching a documentary pitch meeting rather than an actual film.
Shackleton does make some sharp observations about the way true crime documentaries follow a formula, from relying on clichéd visuals like tape recorders, interrogation rooms, and grainy reenactments. He also briefly explores the ways filmmakers manipulate facts and selectively present information to support their theories about the crime their project is highlighting. These moments show the film’s potential to spark interesting thoughts about the genre, but they’re buried under a mountain of dry, unrelenting narration. Instead of exploring these themes in a dynamic or engaging way, Shackleton seems content to drag his feet through them in a way that had me begging for more action and less talking.
The film’s pacing is painfully slow, with a collection of scenes that consist of two-minute shots of static objects while the narrator drones on about the nuances of true crime media. It’s visually bland and doesn’t offer much beyond the spoken word (this would’ve been much better as an audio book).
Overall, “Zodiac Killer Project” feels like a tedious analysis and a missed opportunity. The genre of true crime is ripe for dissection, but the way this film goes about it just doesn’t work.
By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS
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★ 8 / 10
An interesting documentary approach about the Zodiac Killer
peter0969
Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.Charlie Shackleton has crafted a strange essay-like documentary about a tale of a movie that never existed, using…
Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.Charlie Shackleton has crafted a strange essay-like documentary about a tale of a movie that never existed, using both random footage around the landscapes, commentary, and archival footage to express his views and ideas about the concept. It's truly fascinating because Shackleton has created some interesting works in his career and while this one is just as experimental as his usual works, it offers a good insight to the true crime doc subgenera with a fresh perspective, and a good sense of self-awareness about it's morality, ideas, and environment.Shackleton offers out good points about the issues with modern crime doc-genres and placing with both it's critiques and concepts together, it becomes more of a personal essay journey of reflection and cinematic making. Presented with some great visual presentations, sound designs and musical score, it becomes personal and investing. A exploration that something that will never happen, to be imagined.Therefore, I say it's an experience.
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★ 8 / 10
Fresh Blood in the True Crime Doc Genre
scottishgeekguy
(Transcribed from YouTube Review)The Zodiac Killer Project. Now let's read the, um, the wee blurb here. So this again was part of the Out Of Competition…
(Transcribed from YouTube Review)The Zodiac Killer Project. Now let's read the, um, the wee blurb here. So this again was part of the Out Of Competition strand. "When plans to make his own true crime film fall through at the last minute, Charlie Shackleton turns the camera back on himself to examine the tropes, seductions, and shock tactics of a problematic yet extremely popular genre. Countless films have been made about the Zodiac Killer, but Shackleton's meta-documentary doubles as a critical tribute to true crime, shining a light on the manipulative morally dubious and often plain ridiculous ways in which these films play or play with our paranoia and voyeurism." I really, really enjoyed this one.It's, uh From my mind, from my memory, it's the first documentary about a failed documentary. There's been quite a good few movies, documentaries made about failed movies. Um, Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote movie is the first one that springs to mind.I am sure there's been others, but this is the first one where I can think of where it's documentary about the failed making of a documentary. Uh, it's essentially Charlie sitting in a recording booth describing how his movie would have looked. Um, so it's kind of like you're watching the director's commentary track to a movie that never actually, never actually got made.Um, if I just jump into my notes here, um, there's a line from the movie that says, "The gravitational pull of true crime." And that, um, that kind of stands out. I suppose that's, that's the main point of this movie because there's so many of these movies and TV shows on, let's face it, on Netflix. Netflix is full of true crime documentaries. It's definitely a It's definitely a popular genre.It's not actually a genre that I'm massively fond of. I've watched a few of them, but I don't, I don't, you know, um, hoover up every single, uh, true crime documentary that's, that's out there. But I have, I have watched a few. Uh, it's a, it's a really clever deconstruction of the modern true crime documentary. Um, it even goes as far as to criticize some of the recent fictionalized versions of them.The Jeffrey Dahmer one, for example. But in the same breath, Charlie criticizes it, but then also says how good it was made. Um, and he's got a point because I think a lot of the backlash for that Jeffrey Dahmer series on Netflix was, you know, it spends 7 episodes showing you in gory detail what he did. But then in the 8th episode, it kind of like says, "You shouldn't glamorize it.You shouldn't even be watching it." But then you're like, "Well, you just made this documentary." Sorry. "You just made this series." And a good series it was. So that was quite interesting. Um, another interesting element of that documentary is Charlie is very much a faceless voice for half of the movie. He just You don't see him until halfway through, and then when you do finally see him, it's quite sparingly used.So editorially like wise, it's quite an interesting technique because he's obviously got a lot to say about this because he spent, you know, months or years of his life trying to get this documentary made and then it never got made, and then he sat in a recording booth and basically, you know, let his brain empty onto the, onto the screen, or onto the mic and he described how his movie would have looked and how it would have played out. So again, a very clever meta deconstruction of modern day true crime documentaries.I did have a sit down interview with Charlie that I'll be editing and uploading within next, the next week or so, so I'll put that in the description below as well. It's, uh Again, this one's about 90 minutes. In fact, it says it there. Hour and 35 minutes. It's a good length. It doesn't feel too long.It was probably one of the ones that I would potentially watch again after the, um, after the festival. I don't know if it's going to be getting released. Um, I think the, the massive irony would be if this does get released on Netflix and it sits alongside all of the documentaries that it essentially, um, has a go at for their kind of, you know, voyeuristic, manipulative, morally dubious and often plain ridiculous ways in which these films play with our paranoia and voyeurism.That was me reading from the blurb on the website, the blurb on the website from Manuela Lazic, Lasic? Apologies if I'm butchering that name. But yeah, that was the, uh, The Zodiac Killer Project directed by Charlie Shackleton.
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90%
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AUDIENCE
6.0/10
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The most interesting thing about this was the film critique-style dissection of the modern, "Netflix" true crime documentary's visual style and narrative technique.