Netflix’s new quirky murder mystery The Thursday Murder Club is dividing audiences and critics, according to its ratings. Based on the series of mystery novels by Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley, following a group of retirees who casually solve cold cases until they stumble into a real whodunit scenario.
The Thursday Murder Club‘s cast also features Celia Imrie, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, David Tennant, Richard E. Grant, Tom Ellis, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, and Paul Freeman. However, despite The Thursday Murder Club debuting with a near-perfect score, its hopes of being the new Knives Out for Netflix have now been dashed.
At the time of writing, one day after The Thursday Murder Club‘s premiere on Netflix, Chris Columbus’ murder mystery has a 75% critics’ approval rating and a 58% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While ScreenRant‘s Rachel Labonte favorably reviewed The Thursday Murder Club, giving it a 7 out of 10 and saying it “could prove to be a reliable franchise,” it is not a universal opinion.
What This Means For The Thursday Murder Club
Movies with far worse scores than this have been huge hits on streaming, hence why The Thursday Murder Club was always perfect to be a Netflix movie. The star-studded whodunit can still flourish on the platform, as the reviews do prove that some people are genuinely enjoying it.
Of course, Netflix is also coming back soon with Wake Up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Man, the third Knives Out installment, releasing in theaters and on the streamer this holiday season, which is expected to be a much heavier hitter. Labonte says right away in her review that a huge appeal of The Thursday Murder Club is being a similar offering to entertain fans while they wait for Wake Up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Man.
Reviews for The Thursday Murder Club call it “pleasant,” “easygoing,” and “charming.” Its divided reactions are not truly an illustration of it being a flop, but are reflective of people seeing it as light entertainment. It will probably have its day in the sun on Netflix before fading away to make room for the next movie.
Our Take On The Thursday Murder Club’s RT Scores
There’s nothing wrong with a fun, entertaining movie — perhaps the biggest surprise of the Knives Out franchise is how it manages to be this as well as offering some more serious commentary. With the Thursday Murder Club books being described as a “cozy mystery” series, leaning into this was perhaps the best way for the movie to stay true to its source material.
However, when changes to that source material are inevitably going to frustrate readers, The Thursday Murder Club faces another challenge. But it is already at the top of the streaming charts, revealing that, despite any complaints, it is going to be successful enough for a potential sequel.
