The Thursday Murder Club poses a simple question: if a murder mystery features Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie hoodwinking the law and gallivanting around a beautiful stately home, can it really be anything less than great? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. No matter how enticing the prospect may sound on paper, and even with the efforts of director Chris Columbus (of Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire fame), the whole affair is so flimsy you’ll lose nothing from watching it on an iPad while cooking dinner.
Certainly, a part of that lightness is intentional. While The Thursday Murder Club will briefly make the cinema rounds, its ultimate destination is Netflix. Richard Osman’s bestselling source novel, about retirees turned amateur sleuths, incited a fierce bidding war over publishing rights, and spawned a successful run of sequels – all, in short, because there’s no real safer bet than a cosy comfort read from the former co-host of Pointless.
