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Your Weekly Guide to TV Entertainment

August 23 - 29, 2026

Dangerous ‘Whisper’ Acston Luca Porto and Adam Scott in “The Whisper Man”

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Quiet terror

Chilling thriller film ‘The Whisper Man’ hits streamer By Sarah Passingham TV Media

or some, proximity to their greatest fear is a curative tool, but even being an expert on crime does not prepare someone to handle the roller coaster that is an investigation of a loved one’s disappearance. Widower Tom Kennedy (Adam Scott, “Severance”) is a crime writer at the center of the new streaming film “The Whisper Man,” premiering Friday, Aug. 28, on Netflix. Father to eight-year-old Jake (Acston Luca Porto, “Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado,” 2025), Tom lives his worst nightmare when Jake is abducted and he finds an unsettlingly close connection between himself and the likely kidnapper. Against all logic, the evidence left at the scene of Jake’s abduction all points to a serial murderer who was convicted 30 years ago, locked up by Tom’s own father, now-retired former police detective Pete Willis (Robert De Niro, “Zero Day”). Known as the “Whisper Man” for the tapes with hushed voice recordings he sent to police, murderer Frank Carter (Michael Keaton, “Dopesick”) lured children away from their homes and taunted investigators until his arrest and conviction decades ago. Heading the new investigation into Jake’s abduction is Det. Amanda Beck, portrayed by “The White Lotus” star Michelle Monaghan. With Frank behind bars, who is the copycat who abducted Jake? The connection between Jake’s disappearance and the Whisper Man serial murder case quickly makes itself evident, sending Beck down into the police department’s archives, where she finds a chilling poem in the file. It reads, “If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken. If your window’s left unlatched, you’ll hear him tapping at the glass. If you’re lonely, sad and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.” Rounding out the cast of “The Whisper Man” are Hamish Linklater (“Widow’s Bay”), Owen Teague (“You Hurt My Feelings,” 2023), Will Brill (“The Beast in Me”) and John Carroll Lynch (“Big Sky”). The thriller is an adaptation of author Alex North’s bestselling 2019 novel of the same name. Screenwriters Ben Jacoby (“The First Omen,” 2024) and Chase Palmer (“It,” 2017) adapted the novel for the screen and the film is directed by James Ashcroft (“The Rule of Jenny Pen,” 2024). Jake’s abduction bringing the old Whisper Man case and Pete as its investigator into the fold is a double-edged sword for Tom. The father and son have become estranged, but Pete knows the Whisper Man case better than

Robert De Niro and Michelle Monaghan in “The Whisper Man” anyone. Riddled with loss already, Tom is so to the mail slot as a blue, gloved hand slowly desperate for help finding his son that he slips through the opening. reaches out to Pete. Author North spoke to Tudum about the Cautiously optimistic about the call from scene that is featured prominently in the trailhis son, Pete apologizes for the circumstance er, saying, “It’s an inherently frightening idea, that brought them together again in the offi- the idea that anybody could be reaching out cial trailer, however Tom is not interested in to your child or talking secretly to them.” becoming family again. “No, we’re not toNorth added, “It works really, really well in the gether, this is me asking you for help,” Tom film. I was pleased it was there.” tells Pete, letting the wall he’s put up between Fear of what or who could be influencing them down just enough to ask for his father’s your child manifested in a thriller film’s villain is guidance. a clever take on modern parenting anxieties, The identity of the person who has brought and mixed with a strained parent and grown the terror of the Whisper Man back to this tor- child relationship makes for an interesting exmented community is unknown, and glimpses amination of generational divides. The frayed of them in the trailer reveal only a figure slip- family bonds in the book are what drew the diping away into the darkness wearing a black rector of “The Whisper Man” to the film project. hoodie. One distinguishable feature of the “Despite the genre and the trappings of a Whisper Man is that he is always wearing serial killer thriller, it was the characters and bright blue nitrile gloves. Those gloves make a the father-son relationship that’s mirrored frightening scene ripped straight from the throughout the story that really made me sink book even more eerie. Called to the front door in,” Ashcroft told Tudum, calling North’s novel in the middle of the night, Jake crouches next “irresistible.”

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Known for orchestrating the Marvel Cinematic Universe and producing genre-defining sitcoms such as “Arrested Development” and “Community,” the Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joe Russo) co-produced the film with Netflix. “The Whisper Man” is Netflix’s sixth partnership with the Russo Brothers’ production company AGBO. Past collaboration has included last year’s sci-fi action film “The Electric State” as well as the Chris Hemsworth (“Thor: Ragnarok,” 2017) led graphic novel adaptation “Extraction” in 2020 and its 2023 sequel. Make sure your doors and windows are shut tightly before the premiere of “The Whisper Man” Friday, Aug. 28, on Netflix.

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To Be a Part of this weekly publication call Lauren Powell 815-937-3321 for Print and Digital Options entertainment extra | S aturday , a uguSt 22, 2026|3

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