If Only Murders in the Building traded its Manhattan apartments for a Sussex retirement village, you’d get The Thursday Murder Club, but with far more wit, warmth, and Helen Mirren wielding a walking stick like a murder weapon.
Netflix has just dropped the full trailer for its hotly anticipated take on Osman’s bestseller, and it’s a masterclass in British casting.
Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Sir Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie play four sharp-witted retirees who swap Sudoku for cold cases, until a very fresh corpse lands them in a real-life whodunnit.
The plot: golden years, deadly secrets
Set in the fictional Coopers Chase retirement village, the story follows Elizabeth (Mirren), a former spy with a killer instinct; Ron (Brosnan), a firebrand ex-union leader; Ibrahim (Kingsley), a retired psychiatrist with a knack for profiling; and Joyce (Imrie), a sweet-but-sly nurse who documents everything.
Their weekly true-crime club takes a dark turn when a local developer—played by David Tennant, oozing smarm—turns up dead, and the gang realises they might be the only ones sharp enough to solve it.
Expect secret files hidden in knitting bags, a chase scene involving a mobility scooter, and Pierce Brosnan delivering the line: “We’re old, not obsolete.”
Why this isn’t just ‘Only Murders’ for seniors
Sure, the comparisons to Hulu’s hit are inevitable, but Thursday Murder Club has a far richer emotional core. Director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter) balances razor-sharp one-liners with poignant moments, particularly in Mirren’s subplot with Jonathan Pryce as her husband, who’s battling dementia.
And the supporting cast is flawless: Naomi Ackie as an exasperated cop, Richard E. Grant as a suspiciously charming vicar, Tom Ellis (yes, Lucifer himself) as a shady lawyer, and Daniel Mays as the local detective who hates amateur sleuths.
The bigger picture: a new era for older leads
In a streaming landscape obsessed with youth, The Thursday Murder Club is a rare celebration of older characters who aren’t just “cute” or “wise”... they’re lethal. Osman’s books have already sold millions by proving that murder mysteries don’t need brooding thirtysomethings to be thrilling.
Final verdict?
If the trailer’s anything to go by, this could be Netflix’s smartest, and most rewatchable, film of the year. Sharp, funny and unexpectedly moving, it’s Knives Out with pensioners... and we’re all in.
Release date: 28 August (Netflix) Rating: ★★★★★ (based on trailer alone)
