Zodiac Killer Project
(2025 | USA/UK | Charlie Shackleton | 92 minutes)

Prevented by rights issues from making his planned serial killer doc, film essayist Charlie Shackleton instead resorts to describing, in intricate detail, the possibly cliche movie he wanted to make. It’s a fascinating response both to having one’s project pulled away at the last minute as well as an exercise in meta-storytelling.

His narration, over 16mm film of empty parking lots, churches, or other scenes in the general vicinity of the crime spree both paints a vivid picture while breaking here and there to eviscerate genre tropes. The story of the Zodiac Killer and the many failed attempts to determine his identity comes with some built-in familiarity, which makes telling the story around the story all the more workable.

Leaving an audience to fill the void with imagination and narration is a great gimmick in the face of restrictions and Shackleton is a compelling narrator, effortlessly monologuing from shot selections to self-deprecating humor. He fills the spaces by intercutting to digressions and commentary — with ample visual examples — on the degree to which the True Crime genre has been a profitable if highly formulaic format that’s dominated the nonfiction space.

Given his clear and rightfully skeptical perspective on what’s quickly become a cookie-cutter format, though, I found myself wishing he’d used the opportunity to ascended beyond the movie he wanted to make to dive deeper into the motivation for why he wanted to make it in the first place. Maybe it’s fascination, maybe just the allure of a paycheck to fund other more experimental work like this film that he ended up making instead.

Zodiac Killer Project played as an official selection of the NEXT Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It has additional screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the festival and is also available online for the public (January 30–February 2)