The Thursday Murder Club Review

A group of amateur sleuths, known as the Thursday Murder Club, spend their retirement years examining unsolved murders. But when their beloved retirement home is threatened, and a strong ally in the fight to save it is found dead, they begin to look into a case that is slightly less cold than the ones they usually investigate.

Before we get into this review, I have two confessions. First; I haven’t read Richard Osman’s book, and second; even though Netflix were savvy enough to release The Thursday Murder Club on a Thursday, I didn’t actually watch it on a Thursday. Thankfully however, this is a tale that works on all days of the week.

Anyone who has watched MobLand should at least get a kick out of The Thursday Murder Club. Seeing Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Geoff Bell not only in somewhat different roles, but being nice to each other as well, is amusing all by itself. Although, even after exchanging the underworld hotspots of London and the Cotswolds for Cooper’s Chase retirement home, they are still finding ways to get into trouble with both the cops and the crims. It’s just that here they are infinitely more polite about it. And therein lies the heart behind the TMC; despite the curious activities of these amateur sleuths – or possibly because of – it’s both pleasant and harmless good fun. In the times before streaming, this would be considered perfect Sunday afternoon viewing. Only now you can watch it whenever you please – even on a Thursday.

The four leads deliver perfectly charming performances, all of which make you want to join their little gang. A curiously diverse bunch – as much as those playing them – from a wide variety of backgrounds. Without the club, would they be friends? Who knows? But friends they are, and Joyce (Celia Imrie)’s enthusiasm to become a fully fledged member is certainly understandable. As is the residents’ shared desire to save their home. Even without the amateur sleuthing, Cooper’s Chase looks like a delightful place to spend one’s twilight years. Quintessentially British, you might say. And that doesn’t simply apply to the retirement home. It’s all a bit Midsomer Murders – not the Florence Pugh movie – in that, with all this murder and death going on, why would you want to live there? But there wouldn’t be a book or a film without them, so thankfully they do. The fact that they want to figure out what’s going on in their little community also helps.

Which is a good thing too, because they do have a pretty intriguing whodunnit to unravel. One involving a colourful list of suspects – made up of a stellar cast. It’s not exactly a complicated affair, and there are times when the darker side of the story doesn’t quite marry up with the overall light-hearted nature of the film. You’d think that with all the dead bodies turning up, there would be a sense of peril to the gang’s more active investigation. A ‘who will be next?’ sort of thing. Which is something Chris Columbus certainly appears to be aiming for – a later scene involving the wonderful Jonathan Pryce being a perfect example – but it never feels like anyone is in real danger. On the bright side, however, The Thursday Murder Club does manage to keep you guessing throughout, and the ageing detectives do have a hilariously creative approach to investigating crime, especially when it comes to working around the local police. It looks an awful lot like meddling, only I’m not sure you can call it that if it gets results, and comes with exceedingly good-looking cake.