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Credit: Netflix
Murder mysteries are huge right now, thanks to popular TV shows and movies like Only Murders in the Building and Knives Out, and now a popular novel is being adapted for the 2025 movie calendar. The Thursday Murder Club, based on the book series by Richard Osman, is one of Netflix’s upcoming movies, and critics were able to screen the film ahead of its August 28 release. It’s a fairly straight-forward story, they say, but the response is overall positive.
The Thursday Murder Club movie features a killer cast (bad pun intended) that includes Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie and more, centering around a group of elderly amateur sleuths who get caught up in a real-life murder. Maggie Lovitt of Collider says the mystery is nothing we haven’t seen, but the beauty of this flick is in the ensemble, who deliver what may be one of Netflix’s best movies of the year. The critic rates it 9 out of 10, writing:
The Thursday Murder Club is a delightfully charming movie that hits all the highs of the cozy murder mystery genre without any of the negatives. The film manages to subvert expectations at every turn, while still delivering a final act with just enough twists to entertain audiences who manage to pick up on the ‘who’ in this whodunit. Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote have delivered a tight and well-crafted script that understands how to thread the needle of a good mystery, while still focusing on the characters that audiences fall in love with along the way — both good and bad.
G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle says it’s obvious both the actors and director Chris Columbus had a blast making this. Pierce Brosnan hasn’t been this funny since Mrs. Doubtfire, says Johnson, who would be game for a dozen more movies in this series. More from the review of The Thursday Murder Club:
If one searches hard enough, one could find themes such as valuing the wisdom of aging people who have seen it all, the complicated relationship between elders and their children, and how greedy developers are at odds with affordable housing. But mostly The Thursday Murder Club is solid entertainment, as sweet and sugary as one of Joyce’s irresistible cakes. Clearly, a good time was had by all.
Caryn James of THR says mysteries like this one are described as “cozy” for a reason, and anything The Thursday Murder Club lacks in originality is compensated for by its wonderful cast. James writes:
A mystery about retirees who solve cold cases for fun, it is as gentle as a game of Clue and as cozy as an Agatha Christie novel, but its glittering cast and a touch of self-awareness make up for that lack of originality. This modestly entertaining film is uncool and filled with stock tropes, but it doesn’t pretend to be anything more.
Manuel Betancourt of Variety calls the movie a “film of simple pleasures,” and when it comes to whodunits, this is about as cozy and inoffensive as viewers can hope for. The critic says:
The Thursday Murder Club doesn’t feel fresh, but it doesn’t exactly aim to be either. Instead, it banks on its very familiar rhythms —and its game cast — to engage and amuse. The intricate (if not overly complicated) plot may not break new ground, nor do its requisite twists and turns — involving menacing florists, lemon drizzle cakes, immigrant workers and amicable chess games. As a riff on the British whodunit, Columbus’ film is simply a cozy, and perhaps an all too simple, affair — nothing more than a jigsaw puzzle that neither challenges nor frustrates, but only passively entertains.
Stephanie Zacharek of Time says director Chris Columbus is one who screams, “Fun!” and this movie is much more about the actors having a good time than forging new ground in the murder mystery genre. Zacharek writes:
The plot of The Thursday Murder Club twists and turns gently, like wind chimes in a light breeze. It’s one of those movies you watch not necessarily for its whodunnit complexities, but for the pleasure of watching a group of actors having fun, in a storybook English-countryside setting complete with happy, well-kept flower beds and cemeteries dotted with gravestones both ancient and new.
While the critics seem to agree that the plot of The Thursday Murder Club is fairly by-the-book, nobody seems upset about it, saying that Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and the rest are the movie’s real treat. At the time of this writing, the film holds an 81% Rotten Tomatoes score from 32 reviews, so it seems like this might be a great option to throw on from the comfort of your own home.
The Thursday Murder Club will be available to stream with a Netflix subscription on August 28, which is (naturally) a Thursday.
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