The Thursday Murder Club

Released 2025. Director: Chris Columbus

NOT SINCE HARRY POTTER HAVE WE SEEN British and Irish acting royalty of this calibre assemble for a movie with the potential to launch a new series. I’m getting ahead of myself here, but I’d be extremely surprised if a sequel isn’t in the works before the year is over.

Before we get to the acting roster in a minute, The Thursday Murder Club, in case you haven’t heard of it, is a runaway best-seller by Richard Osman, the first in a series of five books on amateur sleuthing by a quartet of senior citizens. The popularity of the book series means if this first movie is successful, there’ll be more in the pipeline. So yes, we can expect more British (don’t forget the Irish) thespians to join the list, just like the Harry Potter series.

The story is set in a posh retirement home called Coopers Chase where members of this little hobby club look into cold cases because, well, among other things, when you’re living in an old folk’s home you have plenty of time to kill. Helen Mirren plays Elizabeth, the no-nonsense, straight-shooting and razor-sharp leader. Pierce Brosnan is Ron, a former union leader and activist. Ben Kingsley is Ibrahim, former psychiatrist great with numbers. And Celia Imrie plays the newest member Joyce, retired nurse and avid baker who regularly turns her residence into a cake shop. 

All of them bring their skills and experiences honed over decades to their pursuit. As they’re looking into an old case involving a woman being thrown out an upstairs window with a knife stuck in her chest, a real-life murder takes place in their vicinity. The victim is Tony, co-owner of Coopers Chase they saw on the same day he was hit with some blunt instrument. The prime suspect is another co-owner by the name of Ian who was seen in a heated argument with Tony. Ian is reviled by the residents because he wants to dig up the adjacent cemetery to build condos and turn Coopers Chase into an event space, which means residents will be kicked out.

If you’ve seen enough detective movies you’ll know the first suspect is rarely ever the perpetrator. As the club digs deeper, more suspects turn up, including Ron’s son Jason, an ex-boxer turned TV celebrity; Bogdan, Ian’s right-hand man and Bobby, a feared gangster turned florist, just as feared with a pair of secateurs. The plot thickens when one of the suspects is poisoned and anyone in the home could've done it, including the four amateur detectives.

Casting is the movie’s trump card, with a supporting line-up that includes David Tennant, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Richard E Grant, Ruth Sheen, Geoff Bell, Tom Ellis, Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Jonathan Pryce.

The delivery and timing between the actors are spot-on, giving the movie a buoyancy that makes you overlook any lack of originality, from comic moments (the outdoor live drawing scene, for example) to procedural exchanges (fishing for details from a distracted inspector) and sombre confessions. Through it all, director Chris Columbus keeps the mood suitably light, breezy and in one instance, unexpectedly moving when Jonathan Pryce, as Elizabeth’s dementia-afflicted husband Stephen, drifts between moments of clarity.

The adaptation by Katy Brand (who wrote Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) and Suzanne Heathcote (who worked on TV's Killing Eve) tightens the pace of the novel and streamlines the plot in particular the ending. Some characters have been excised and if I remember correctly (it's been four years since I read the book), one suspect has been changed. They’ve also shifted the narrative focus from Joyce (who has first-person narration in the book) to Elizabeth, the dominant member of the club and therefore the logical spotlight onscreen.

Elizabeth is the one who strings the clues together and her quick deduction and reasoning is what solves the mystery. It’s no surprise when we learn in the end what she used to do. (Clue: she could’ve crossed paths with Brosnan's most famous screen persona.) As played by Helen Mirren, Elizabeth is also reminiscent of her iconic character from the Prime Suspect series. Come to think of it, Elizabeth may well be a new identity for Detective Superintendant Jane Tennison, retired but evidently still cracking cases.

The Thursday Murder Club is Agatha Christie-lite and catnip for fans of whodunits set in pastoral English villages. Despite the recognisable tropes, its cosy familiarity spun in starry threads makes this a pleasant watch, any day of the week.

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