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I Am Not a Serial Killer is perhaps one of the most striking movie titles we’ve seen this year, and it sets up an expectation for a film that’s out of the ordinary. We are not disappointed, as the film immediately establishes a unique tone of dark humour that sets it apart from the masses of banal thrillers released in 2016. To consider I Am Not a Serial Killer merely a dark comedy, however, would do it a disservice.

John Wayne Cleaver (Max Records) is a sociopath. This is established straight away as he talks and bird watches with his psychologist Dr. Neblin (Karl Geary). During these opening interactions, John highlights his two fascinations; serial killers, and keeping up the appearance of being normal. John and the audience do not think in the same way, and this causes a discomfort which intensifies when an actual serial killer begins to torment the town. John’s curiosity is driven by his desire to understand and empathise with the killer himself, rather than out of a need to help the victims.The comedy arises when we are presented with the absurdity of the mundane daily life that John leads and realise that he himself is masquerading as something which he definitely isn’t: a regular guy.

That’s not to say the film is without faults. While this is Billy O’Brien’s seventh time directing, I Am Not A Serial Killer feels almost like a film school project. There are repeated motifs and images, all of which feel forced and heavy handed. In addition, the climax comes out of left field and is likely to divide viewers. It is the acting of Max Records, Christopher Lloyd and Laura Fraser and the originality of the script (which O’Brien co-wrote) that drive this film and allows the audience to overlook the scenes in which it falters. It is an unusually good thriller that subverts common tropes to make a film that is wholly convincing and well worth watching.