Richard Osman’s hit debut novel about a group of OAP amateur sleuths has spawned four sequels and counting.
But what’s even more remarkable for the Pointless host is that Steven Spielberg snapped up the rights to a film adaptation even before The Thursday Murder Club was published in 2020.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker even toyed with directing before handing it over to Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire).
Fans of the murder mystery comedy book will no doubt be impressed by the incredible cast of this new Netflix film, which stars Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as the four members of the titular group.
If that wasn’t enough, they’re joined by the likes of David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Richard E Grant and more in this sunny and cosy adaptation.
As for the plot, the four pensioners set off solving the murder of one of the owners of their Coopers Chase retirement village. Always one step ahead of Daniel Mays and Naomi Ackie’s coppers, Mirren’s retired spook Elizabeth leads the gang in finding the culprit – in a race against time as their shared home is threatened with closure. As some readers and critics of the original novel pointed out, the mystery itself is pretty unremarkable and would be more at home as a “murder-of-the-week” on a serialised whodunnit TV show than a major Spielberg movie. There is no Benoit Blanc Knives Out complexity here, but to be honest, that was never the appeal or heart of The Thursday Murder Club.
The charm and depth of character among the group are what make the books so successful, as the friends navigate growing older amid the occasional modern pop culture reference. The main cast is very watchable in their roles, even if Brosnan plays his slightly miscast Ron with a dodgy cockney accent. Overall, this is an enjoyable but largely forgettable piece of fluff, and we look forward to the inevitable sequels.
The Thursday Murder Club is out today in select UK cinemas and is streaming on Netflix from August 28, 2025.