IFC Midnight announced on Tuesday their acquisition of Billy O’Brien’s I Am Not a Serial Killer, which premiered at this year’s SXSW festival. The film is adapted from Dan Wells’ novel, the first in his ‘John Wayne Cleaver’ trilogy.
Where the Wild Things Are’s Max Records plays 16-year-old John Cleaver, who calls upon his own dark impulses to hunt down a supernatural serial killer. Christopher Lloyd and Breaking Bad’s Laura Fraser also star.
IFC Midnight said in the press release: “Billy O’Brien has done a stunning job of bringing Dan Wells’ book to the screen with an endlessly engaging film suffused with wry humor, finely wrought performances, and a moody, haunting atmosphere.”
Says Andrew Orr of Independent Film Company (who negotiated the distribution deal): “Billy O’Brien has created a truly distinct and special film. The audience reaction in SXSW was incredible, and so we are 
delighted to have found our ideal partner in IFC Midnight to take the film to a wider audience in the US.”
Read on for the full synopsis, and check out this set of stills from the film:
Sixteen-year old John Cleaver (Max Records) is dangerous, and he knows it. He’s obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn’t want to become one. Terrible impulses constantly tempt him, so for his own sake, and the safety of those around, he lives by rigid rules to keep himself “good” and “normal”. However, when a real monster shows up in his town he has to let his dark side out in order to stop it – but without his rules to keep him in check, he might be more dangerous than the monster he’s trying to kill.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
