A veteran alcoholic detective enlists the help of a young inexperienced psychiatrist to catch a serial killer who is targeting the parents of abused children before the killer discovers the detective’s dark family secret.

I'd say the logline is fairly explicit that the MC is a child abuser ... he has to find a killer who targets child abusers before the killer finds out the MC's secret? Surely that's the insinuation - that the MC is a child abuser and he'll become the next target? Otherwise the danger is that the killer will kill his abusive parents ... and we as an audience are FAR less concerned with saving the lives of abusive parents.

Totally agree with dpg ... I think if you reveal that your MC is a child abuser, it doesn't really matter how far into the story I find out, I lose all empathy for him and don't want to see him complete his goal, and don't want to see the end of the movie.

What if the detective's dark family secret is that he is a child abuser? After all, he's a drunk. The logline leaves unclear as to whether he is the victim or the victimizer. If the latter, then on 2 counts he's not the kind of MC an audience would root for.

Either way, the serial killer comes off as some kind of a hero, even if he's meeting out "street justice".

What if the detective's dark family secret is that he is a child abuser? After all, he's a drunk. The logline leaves unclear as to whether he is the victim or the victimizer. If the latter, then on 2 counts he's not the kind of MC an audience would root for.

Either way, the serial killer comes off as some kind of a hero, even if he's meeting out "street justice".