Boston Strangler Director Matt Ruskin has a bizarre connection to the real life case of one of the first known serial killers.
Boston Strangler Director Has Bizarre Connection To The Case
The Boston Strangler is one of the first known serial killers. This case occurred before that term was ever used. It was two female investigative journalists, Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin, who first connected the murders. Since the Boston police were not doing much about the killings, they took it into their own hands to warn the women of Boston that there was a madman on the loose.
During the global press conference for Hulu’s new film, Boston Strangler, it was revealed that Boston Strangler Director Matt Ruskin has a bizarre connection to the case — that he didn’t even know about until he started working on the project.
In talking about the research he did in order to make Boston Strangler the best that it could be, he details that he was immediately grabbed by Loretta and Jean’s stories. The problem was, there was very little information that he could find as they were never truly given the credit they deserve for their hand in the case.
The Boston Strangler director read Jean Cole’s obituary and discovered that she had two daughters. He looked them up, hoping to be able to speak with them. This is when he realized he had a bizarre connection to the case that he didn’t even know about.
“One of them had a Facebook profile and in the Facebook profile she had one photograph. And in the photo, she had her arm around an old friend of mine.” Matt called up this friend, asking her how she knew this woman, and was shocked to learn that this woman was her mother, making Jean Cole her grandmother. His friend explained that Jean is someone that she absolutely revered before she passed away.
The Boston Strangler director was introduced to both of Jean’s daughters by his friend after that. He explains, “the more I got to know about these women and reporters, the more I grew to admire them. I felt incredibly compelled to trying to tell their story.” He certainly pulled it off as this movie centers around them, and is told from their point of view.
Ruskin is known for his work on true crime films such as Crown Heights. Be sure to check out his latest, Boston Strangler staring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon, when it hits Hulu on March 17th.
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About Boston Strangler
From 20th Century Studios and award-winning writer-director Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”) comes “Boston Strangler,” a true-crime thriller about the trailblazing reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders of the 1960s.
The film follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation alongside colleague and confidante Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), yet the duo finds themselves stymied by the rampant sexism of the era.
Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Cole bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.
Boston Strangler comes to Hulu on March 17th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.