Matt Ruskin: Boston Strangler is about the journalism as much as the serial killer

Matt Ruskin says it was important not to "humanise" a serial killer in 'Boston Strangler'.

The filmmaker has helmed the historical crime drama based on the infamous Boston Strangler murders that rocked the US city during the 1960s.

The picture centres on Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), the reporter who broke the story of the strangler. Along with fellow reporter Jean Cole, McLaughlin challenged the sexism of the era and pursued the story at personal risk to uncover corruption that cast doubt on the identity of the strangler.

And the director has insisted it's not just a "serial killer" film but the story of a journalist fighting to be taken seriously as an investigative reporter and keeping the women of the Massachusetts city "informed".

He told The Wrap: "It’s a serial killer story, but it’s also a journalism story. I did not approach this film with the intention of trying to humanise a serial killer or pull people into their world so they knew what made them tick. This is very much a story about a journalist who proved to the world her ability as a serious investigative reporter through the course of breaking the story and working tirelessly to keep the city, and keep women, informed. It’s very much through that through that lens.”

Ruskin explained: "It’s very important to be respectful of depicting real people, of women who are victims of horrible crimes. One of the things that was so interesting about Loretta and Jean’s reporting was they were really the only women covering this story, and they always looked at these crimes from a human perspective. They wanted to know who these women were in a way that many of the other journalists didn’t pursue."