'The Thursday Murder Club' on Netflix Is a Slice of Cake Served With Mystery and Charm

I didn’t think it would ever be possible to have Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie, Ben Kingsley, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Richard E. Grant, and Paul Freeman (René Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark) in a movie together where they weren’t wearing wizard robes, being crime bosses, psychopaths, spies, or part of a superhero universe. But Netflix proved me wrong with The Thursday Murder Club.

Sure, Helen Mirren’s character, Elizabeth, is a former MI6 Agent. And Geoff Bell (Mobland) does play a crime boss. But some casting decisions just make good sense. Richard E. Grant also plays a criminal in The Thursday Murder Club. But he’s a delighfully creepy sociopath who is trimming roses when we meet him, letting the thorns prick his hands as he bleeds all over his work table. It’s very campy.

The Thursday Murder Club is a cozy mystery. As such, everyone in the ridiculously stacked cast is having a good time not having to play characters as intense and sinister as they’ve been in recent roles. Even David Tennant’s bad guy is a somewhat goofy caricature of an evil land developer. It feels like everyone agreed to this project because it would be a lark to be part of this “merry band of pensioners,” as Daniel Mays’ character, DCI Hudson, refers to them.

But even before the opening credits of the movie, the coziness is established by the Amblin Entertainment logo greeting you like an old friend with a comforting hug.

Seeing Chris Columbus’ name as the director lets you know that nothing bad will happen here. He’s had a hand in The Goonies, Gremlins, Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, Adventures In Babysitting, and Young Sherlock Holmes, among many other “safe” movies from our youth.

Very briefly, and without spoilers, Mirren, Brosnan, and Kingsley all live in Cooper’s Chase, a high-end assisted living facility where there are therapy llamas, live model drawing classes, and everyone lives in well-appointed apartments with full kitchens (this is important later, for cake reasons).

The trio keeps themselves busy and their minds sharp by solving cold cases. Until recently, The Thursday Murder Club had a fourth member. But she has gone into hospice care when Celia Imrie’s Joyce is recruited to join the team. They want to solve the murder of a young woman from the 1970s, whose fiancé reported her suspicious death and then disappeared.

They find themselves faced with a present-day murder that involves the owners of the land on which Cooper’s Chase is built, and they insert themselves into the investigation by taking advantage of the fact that everyone sees them as silly old people and by offering everyone cake.

There are a lot of lovely cakes made and eaten in The Thursday Murder Club. Because while Elizabeth’s MI6’s methods of interrogation are harsh, this mystery is cozy and everyone knows it’s easier to get answers with sweets.

Elizabeth is adept at recruiting allies and conspirators to their cause by recognizing their strengths that other people have overlooked or taken for granted. She notices Joyce is not particularly squeamish about seeing the picture of their cold case victim. With Holmesian-like astuteness, she deduces that Joyce was previously a trauma nurse. Naomi Ackie (Mickey 17) plays PC De Freitas. Elizabeth immediately understands she’s smarter than everyone else on the small-town police force, bored with her low-ranked position. De Freitas is brought into the fold and becomes integral in helping them solve the mystery.

Tom Ellis (Lucifer) is also in the cast as Pierce Brosnan’s son. He’s very fit as a former celebrity athlete, now reality competition star, who also bakes lovely cakes.

Do you see what I mean about the cakes?

The Thursday Murder Club isn’t going to win any awards. But it will be two hours that your shoulders can relax, you can laugh at Pierce Brosnan’s jocular Ron floating through a water aerobics class in a brightly colored inner tube, and Jonathan Pryce telling Helen Mirren she looks like The Queen when she disguises herself as an old lady in a kerchief and big glasses to go undercover. There are a lot of silly little things like that to enjoy about this movie, and you should let yourself enjoy them.

There is a bit of sadness at the end, but it’s the good kind of sadness. Where a little crying makes you feel a lot better. And Ben Kingsley reads one hell of a eulogy. But I’d listen to him read the phonebook. Mostly, it’s a joy watching talented actors whose work we admire have fun.

Richard Osman has written four novels in the The Thursday Murder Club series, with a fifth coming out in September. I would watch all five of these movies. I’ll probably rewatch this one over the weekend, and I’ve already recommended it to the group of neighbors I get heated about politics with over cocktails. It’s a breather.

Get yourself a slice of cake, pour a cup of tea, and take a couple of hours off from the world burning.

The Thursday Murder Club is now streaming on Netflix.