For those who like their murder a little on the quaint side, then 
Netflix’s new mystery movie could be for you. Then again, judging by its audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, that may not be the case at all. Based on the novel by Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club seemed to be making a killing with its early critics’ reviews, but it has not lived up to expectations for many fans despite enlisting a stellar cast to tell its story of retirement home pensioners who all think they are Miss Marple – with a few Sherlock Holmeses thrown in for good measure.
Directed by Hollywood veteran Chris Columbus, The Thursday Murder Club stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as a quartet of crime-loving pensioners living in Cooper’s Chase retirement village. It’s a little in the vein of Only Murders in the Building, but so much more British, dear. The plot of the movie goes something like this:
“The Thursday Murder Club follows four irrepressible retirees — Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) and Joyce (Celia Imrie) — who spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. When an unexplained death occurs on their own doorstep, their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn as they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands.”
The Thursday Murder Club has quite a following thanks to the record-breaking book it is based on, so there are many fans that have been waiting quite some time to see the story play out on screen. And it seems that they are the people who really cannot decide whether the film is good or bad.
‘The Thursday Murder Club’ Has Taken Over Netflix
While the mighty KPop Demon Hunters (one of the most surprising movies of the year) remains the number one movie on Netflix’s global chart, The Thursday Murder Club is in a solid second place, and has topped the chart in both the U.S. and U.K. However, the reviews that have followed are mixed, with the film landed an unexpectedly low 59% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes. Compared to the 75% critics’ score (down from 90% when the review embargo was originally lifted), this is quite disappointing after such high expectations.
One review from Jilly J, who said that after reading all the books in the series, “the first book was great, by the 4th I was struggling to see why I bothered to purchase. This film felt like the 4th book, just not good at all.” Darren C had another, and quite interesting , way of describing it. “Imagine replacing Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Fred with pensioners whilst keeping the Hanna-Barbera plot lines. Well folks you now have The Thursday Murder Club, an episode of Scooby Doo dragged out to almost two hours.” Anton T added, “I have the desire to send a letter of condolence to Richard Osman.”
However, there were others who were more than happy with the adaptation. As Carl W put it, “Just stop the whingeing about why the book is better and savor the delights of a stellar cast bringing these beloved characters to life. To expect a two-hour movie to contain the full range of Osman’s world and the complexity of his story is absurd.” To add to this, the enigmatically named KD said, “The Thursday Murder Club is a breath of fresh air. The cast are fantastic, and the storyline keeps you engaged from start to finish. What I really appreciated was that it managed to be entertaining and clever without relying on unnecessary violence, sex scenes, or swearing. Just a great mystery with heart and wit. Highly recommend!”
The Thursday Murder Club clearly isn’t going to dethrone Knives Out as Netflix’s most popular modern murder mystery movie, but it doesn’t try to. While the stars and director have said that they would love to come back for more installments, whether they get the chance will now rest in the hands of Netflix viewers.
The Thursday Murder Club
- Release Date
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August 28, 2025
- Runtime
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118 minutes
- Director
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Chris Columbus
- Writers
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Katy Brand, Suzanne Heathcote
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