Before we get into my review of this film, I’d recommend preparing yourself a lovely slice of Victoria sponge. I promise you, you’ll want some cake. Richard Osman’s books about a senior citizens’ murder club are the perfect setting for an adaptation that is genuinely intriguing. A group of pensioners decide to play sleuths at their plush retirement home when they’re hit with a live-action murder mystery straight from the inside. Coopers Chase houses many senior citizens who love the place because of the fancy lunches and comfort llamas (yeah, I didn’t know that was a thing either), but they’ve got a problem at hand, and only The Thursday Murder Club can save the day.
There’s nothing senile about the three members of this cold-case-solving club. We have Elizabeth, who takes on the role of leader. She’s most invested in solving the murders and has some other reasons for her obsession, which you’ll find out when you watch the film. Then there’s Ron, the one you could call the most burly of the lot. With a celebrity for a son, he’s got quite the makings of one himself. Lastly, there’s Ibrahim, who is soft-spoken yet driven. They make a fantastic team, but they’re missing a special someone with medical expertise. This is when they realize that cake-maker and newcomer Joyce might be the perfect fit for their little mystery-solving club.
I don’t know if I feel like there’s a sort of saturation of young people’s media, or if it’s just that elderly media is so rare that it automatically feels fresh and more interesting despite its flaws. All things considered, what I enjoyed the most about The Thursday Murder Club is that it treats its elderly as human beings with pasts and personalities rather than just caricatures. If you think of “old people,” you might immediately imagine some tropes that plague these kinds of films and shows. For one, you’ve got to have someone cantankerous, and then another oldie has to be out of their mind, and so on and so forth. You could almost say The Thursday Murder Club is basically fan fiction for old-timers that allows us to see them as still zealous and excited to get something done.
Netflix previously did this with The Man On The Inside, a show that I genuinely enjoyed because of its understanding of, well, grown-ups and how they can’t be fit into a mold, each different from the other. The big difference between that film and this show, though, is that the crime in The Man On The Inside isn’t as serious, and the show has a more emotional angle to it. The Thursday Murder Club will not make you tear up, but it might remind you of your grandparents. The film is mainly about friendship, teamwork, and finding connections in unexpected places. It’s a British cozy crime “whodunit,” and never misses a beat in that sense.
In truth, I didn’t care much about the cases themselves; I was more invested in Elizabeth and her gang trying to make things work for themselves. They’re an intriguing team for obvious reasons. If you’re interested in this film, it’s likely you know of this stacked cast. Helen Mirren is Elizabeth, Pierce Brosnan is Ron, Ben Kingsley is Ibrahim, and Celia Imrie is Joyce. All big names and all delightfully perfect for their roles in this film. Take what I say with a grain of salt, though, since I haven’t read the books. This is my first interaction with these characters, and if they’re supposed to be a certain way, then I wouldn’t be able to tell you they’re not. But, from what I saw, I genuinely liked all of them, even if the characters occasionally come off as surface-level. I can’t say this film is perfect, though I might be inclined to say it’s perfectly British. Apart from the main cast, there’s also David Tennant, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Tom Ellis, and Jonathan Pryce in supporting roles. Yeah, I know; it’s a never-ending list. Can I just say, I thoroughly enjoy David Tennant playing a prick; it just comes so naturally to him.
Quite ironic that Chris Columbus is, in fact, not British himself. The director brings a charm to this film, and I love that a “whodunit” mystery made in 2025 isn’t color graded to look like we’re unable to handle natural colors and need horrendous filters to enjoy a film. The visuals are muted and feel soothing to the eye and match the vibe of the film perfectly. I do wish we could’ve seen a bit more of the finished cakes, though—big shame. It’s true the tonality of the film will sometimes catch you off guard, but as consumers, we’re so immune to anything morbid these days that The Thursday Murder Club, despite being about murder, feels like just a regular old walk in the park. The film never fails to entertain, even if it doesn’t have laugh-out-loud gags or Knives Out-level satire. It’s simple but effective in presenting an (almost) family-friendly film about old people ready to become true crime podcasters.
Netflix isn’t new to “whodunits.” Their most recent, The Resident, was also quite an interesting show, with a very serious protagonist, but I thought it could get occasionally boring considering how dialogue-heavy it was. In this case, everything is perfectly balanced out, and aside from one particularly obscene visual for this film, The Thursday Murder Club is actually quite family-friendly. Enjoy it with some cake, tea, and your lovely grandparents by your side for the full effect. For the most part, this film isn’t hoping to get you riled up or think too much. It simply fits in somewhere between the ecosystem of true-crime-loving and old “whodunit” fans. You might not find The Thursday Murder Club the most amusing film of the year, but you’ll certainly feel invested in the story and the friendships that you’ll wish you had more of. I’d give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.
