There is a fine tradition of the talky, twisty literary thriller, from Sleuth to Deathtrap: a writer, a remote house, a younger visitor and a game of wits in which nobody can be trusted. A Talent for Murder, adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith from her own stage play and directed by Anton Corbijn, sets out to join that company, with Helen Mirren as a fictionalised Patricia Highsmith, creator of Tom Ripley.
It is a stylish, enjoyable swing with a terrific central performance. It is also a film whose twists tug at the rug rather than pull it away.
A Talent for Murder gives Helen Mirren a deliciously poisonous role, then never quite plunges the knife in.
Movie at a Glance
- UK and Ireland cinemas: 20 November 2026
- US cinemas: 23 October 2026
- Runtime: 1 hour 46 minutes
- Director: Anton Corbijn
- Screenplay: Joanna Murray-Smith, from her play Switzerland
- Starring: Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke and Juliet Stevenson
- Cinematography: Robbie Ryan
- Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
- Distributors: Bleecker Street (US); Universal and Focus Features (UK)
- Genre: Literary thriller
Viewer Match
- Best for: Highsmith and Ripley fans, admirers of Helen Mirren and anyone who loves a talky two-hander.
- Maybe skip if: You want genuine shocks or a mystery with a killer final twist.
- Mood and pace: Wry, stagey and slow-burning, with sudden shifts into a glossy story within the story.
- Cinema or streaming? Fine for streaming, though Mirren’s performance plays well with an audience.
- Spoiler level: Spoiler-free: only the premise.
Bringing Back Ripley
It is 1995, and Patricia Highsmith is drinking herself towards the end in a remote Swiss home, surrounded by snails, weapons and her own bile. Into this lair walks Edward (Alden Ehrenreich), an ambitious young emissary from her New York publisher with one task: persuade her to write one last Tom Ripley novel.
Highsmith will not take orders from an underling. Instead she sets a test: if he can help her plot a murder worthy of Ripley, she might just pick up her pen again. What follows weaves between the writer’s study, the thriller the pair are inventing, and Edward’s own life, which starts to resemble the fiction a little too closely.
Mirren on Glorious Form
Mirren is a hoot. Her Highsmith is cantankerous, contemptuous and very funny, and it is the most substantial challenge she has been given in some time. Ehrenreich is an excellent foil, charming and quietly unsettling in a way that makes you wonder who is really playing whom. Olivia Cooke adds poise as a wealthy young woman who becomes part of the game.
The trouble is that the structure gives Ehrenreich the lead and leaves Mirren off screen more than you would like. Every time the film cuts away from her, it loses a little voltage.
A Plot That Grazes Rather Than Cuts
The idea of two people inventing a murder together, with fact and fiction bleeding into each other, is a good one. But the invented thriller is too generic to feel like Highsmith’s work, and the film spends long stretches inside it without much at stake. The script is not quite as nasty as it thinks it is, and it goes easy on the uglier side of its real-life subject.
Corbijn is more at home with the sun-kissed gloss of the Italian story than with Highsmith’s house, which never becomes the menacing space it should be. The twists come, but none truly jolts.
Still Worth an Evening
For all that, A Talent for Murder is an admirable, rare attempt to revive the grown-up chamber thriller, handsomely shot by Robbie Ryan and lifted by two performers who are clearly relishing the sparring. You may wish it had more venom, but you will not be bored.
Spoiler-Free Verdict
A Talent for Murder is a stylish, talky literary thriller powered by a wickedly funny Helen Mirren and a slippery Alden Ehrenreich. The story within a story is too generic and the twists too gentle for it to join the greats, but it is a smart, enjoyable game while it lasts.
- Performances: 8.5/10
- Direction: 6.5/10
- Screenplay: 6/10
- Score: 6.5/10
- Cinematography: 7.5/10
- Entertainment Value: 7/10
- Overall score: 7/10
Star rating: 3.5/5
Verdict badge: One for Fans
One-line verdict: Mirren is magnificently venomous; the thriller around her is merely good.
Watch the Official Trailer
The official trailer may reveal more than this spoiler-free review.
Who should play Tom Ripley next, and could Helen Mirren’s Highsmith write him? Tell Movieversalfilm in the comments.