Based very loosely on a true crime case out of the Vancouver, Canada area, Squealer follows a social worker and a detective who are trying to save prostitutes from the streets and what or who is picking them off.
Written by Andy Armstrong and Danielle Burgio and directed by the former, Squealer takes the police procedural route, sorta, with a side of social work to a serial killer story that involves a pig farm, the potential that victims were disposed of with meat sold to butcher shops, and a drug dealer in this version of things. The film here is unfortunately a bit on the bland side in terms of story and how it’s brought to the screen. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but it’s not great either. It’s somewhere in that middle range between decent and boring. The story at the basis for this film is interesting and one worth looking into, but the way the film brings it to the screen feels a bit like a tv movie of this story or an extended episode of an investigation series. It’s not bad, it’s not memorable either. The story had already been adapted for the Ulli Lommel 2006 film Killer Pickton and is getting a second adaption coming out this month as well called Pig Killer which goes in the complete opposite direction with a more exploitive take (more on that in the film’s own review later this month). The story is one that has something to it that brings filmmakers back and back again, but once again, this isn’t the right film for it due to how the story is developed and directed mainly.
The cast here is decent, led by Danielle Burgio who wrote herself an ok part here as the social worker, and Wes Chatham, playing the detective who helps her out. The film actually has Chatham as top billed cast with Tyrese Gibson and Ronnie Gene Blevins. While Blevins makes sense as a top billing, playing the title character of Squealer, Gibson is in the movie for maybe a total of 5 minutes in part that makes it feel like someone on this movie owed him something. His character is part of the police for, but he’s basically useless to the story and the acting Gibson gives here makes it feel like it’s another take on his Fast and Furious character, as if Roman is cosplaying as a cop. This choice of character and cast is puzzling, but he’s in the film so little, it’s easy to pretend he’s not there at all. Blevins does quite well as Squealer and Chatham is ok as Jack. The performances on average are ok. They are decent, but they feel like they are just that, just ok, just decent, maybe made for random weeknight cable viewing if most people still used cable. On the more colorful side of things, there’s Theo Rossi, stealing some scenes as a drug dealer who makes no sense to the story and really isn’t needed, but Rossi makes the most of the part, so there is that.
In terms of the other aspects of the film, everything from cinematography to editing to music to effects is decent, but none of it is particularly memorable, so there isn’t much to say about them.
Squealer is a new take on a familiar story that has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it ends up feeling like a wasted opportunity. The film is ok, but not memorable in any way. It has decent performances mostly, with Theo Rossi stealing some scenes with a character that is just not needed in the story. The presence of Tyrese Gibson is puzzling. The story has no bite to speak of and it doesn’t really bring much new information or anything of interest to the story. It’s a television-friendly take on a story that has the potential to be really interesting for true crime fans.