Netflix has released the first trailer for The Whisper Man, the new psychological thriller based on Alex North’s bestselling novel. Adam Scott stars as widowed crime writer Tom, whose eight-year-old son Jake is abducted after the family moves in search of a fresh start. Desperate to find him, Tom turns to his estranged father Pete, played by Robert De Niro, a retired police detective with a connection to the case.
“Son, I’m sorry that it took this to get us together,” Pete tells him in the trailer. “We’re not together,” Tom replies. “This is me asking you for help.” The abduction appears to be linked to Frank Carter, the serial killer known as the Whisper Man. Pete caught Carter more than a decade earlier, but there is one major problem: he has been in prison ever since. With Carter unable to have taken Jake himself, Pete and Tom are left trying to work out whether someone is copying his crimes or continuing them on his behalf.
Michelle Monaghan stars as Detective Amanda Beck, who joins Pete in the search as the case begins exposing unsettling connections to the past. Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Acston Luca Porto and Will Brill also star. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco and Kassee Whiting serve as producers.
The trailer leans heavily into the story’s eerie nursery rhyme, heard as the investigation grows increasingly urgent: “If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.” It also gives a closer look at the difficult relationship between Tom and Pete. Their search forces them back together, but years of distance and resentment remain between them while Jake’s life is at risk.
Director James Ashcroft said that the father-and-son relationship was what drew him to North’s novel, despite the serial killer story surrounding it. He described Pete as a quiet character who is constantly considering both the investigation and how to rebuild his relationship with Tom. North wrote the book while his own son was around Jake’s age, with the story exploring what parents pass on to their children and how each generation reacts to what came before.
The film is directed by Ashcroft, whose previous work includes Coming Home in the Dark and The Rule of Jenny Pen. Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer wrote the screenplay.
For CultureCues, the poster was creepy enough, but the trailer has made The Whisper Man look even more frightening. The mystery linking Jake’s disappearance to a killer and a case from 30 years earlier gives the film an intriguing setup and has definitely made us want to know more. Robert De Niro and Adam Scott already look great together in the trailer. We will be watching, with every door firmly locked.
The Whisper Man arrives globally on Netflix on 28 August 2026.
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