While Netflix’s latest mystery flick, The Thursday Murder Club, features a talented veteran like Chris Columbus behind the camera and an eye-widening ensemble of acting prowess, it lacks the energy and punch to leave a lasting impact.
Based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Richard Osman, the film takes viewers into a UK retirement residence where a group of elderly sleuths solve cold cases during their spare time. However, this team of retirees gets a chance to uncover the truth behind a real murder that not only upends their lives, but also draws them into a dangerous conspiracy. The titular band of investigators includes former spy Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), former union leader Ron (Pierce Brosnan), former psychiatrist Ibraham (Ben Kingsley), and former nurse Joyce (Celia Imrie)—making for quite the combination. It’s pretty fun how each member brings their own expertise and ideas to the table and the amount of talent within these four is pretty spectacular.
Mirren has the screen presence to bring Elizabeth’s spy background into the forefront of crime-solving. She’s adaptive and confident enough to skirt or directly face any dangerous personalities and situations that come her way. Plus, we all know Mirren has the range to make Elizabeth a versatile asset that allies and audiences can easily trust and love. Brosnan is perfect for Ron’s blue collar attitude, effectively rallying people to take action or having his colleagues’ back. Imrie is also a lot of fun since she brings a fresh energy as the group’s newest member, which leads to plenty of funny lines and a strong support to the group’s endeavors. The only one who doesn’t get much to do is Kingsley’s Ibraham as his psychiatrist background isn’t too impactful to the cases they’re dealing with nor is there a sub-plot involving him. However, he’s still a good addition who helps bolster the emotional aspects of the film’s conclusion. Overall, the titular club of amateur private eyes offers plenty of fun and perfectly stands out against the star power that surrounds them.
While a leading foursome of Mirren, Brosnan, Kingsley, and Imrie would be more than enough to say the film’s cast is strong, The Thursday Murder Club’s talent extends to all-star levels. With Naomie Ackie, David Tenant, Tom Ellis, Richard E. Grant, and Jonathan Pryce make up just a portion of the supporting talent, there’s a lot of great talent that, admittedly, doesn’t always get used to its fullest. In general, the supporting cast basically plays the role they need to for the mystery at hand and nothing more. No one gives a bad performance, but there’s rarely anyone who’s pushed to do more with their role, leaving only a couple standouts. Ackie and Daniel Mays are fun as a pair of local detectives who help and work against, respectively, the titular club’s investigation. For the most part though, everyone just does what they need to—which isn’t terrible since it allows them to work within the film’s fairly wholesome premise.
The Thursday Murder Club fulfills those true-crime podcast fantasies we all hope to have in our golden years as it elicits cozy adventure vibes. There’s plenty of light-hearted laughs to be had along the way and the case itself is pretty fun too. It’s basically a local conspiracy plot involving shady characters and suspicious people that hit close to home for the team. There are plenty of Sherlock Holmes vibes to all the clue-solving and connection seeking, and it’s got enough going on to be a solid enough story. Unfortunately, you can’t help but wish there was a little more satisfaction to be had with where things go.
Even with there being a fairly solid throughline narrative to string viewers along, it doesn’t build towards any type of gob-smacking shock that viewers want with a mystery. The end results are unsurprising and there’s even a half-baked attempt to tack on a second finding to a separate mystery that’s unnecessary and drags the film towards its end. Plus, none of the sub plots involving the group’s residence being shut down, Ron’s son Jason (Ellis) becoming a suspect, or Joyce’s fraught relationship with her daughter Joanna (Ingrid Oliver) lead to anything special for the story. There are barely any red herrings or big clues to latch onto, making for a mystery that might stay a little too lowkey. And, while the lack of big action or danger might make sense for the small scale of the mystery and the elderly nature of its characters, it means there isn’t much suspense—even at a moderate level.
Even with The Thursday Murder Club never stretching beyond standard fare for the genre, it’s a reasonably enjoyable ride with a cast that understands the assignment well. It’s fun to see this cast, especially its main crew, play around with a decent mystery and makes for an easily watchable, albeit probably forgettable, watch for Netflix subscribers.
