8/12 ForReel Score | 3/5 Stars

Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder is a thriller of Hitchcockian traditions that examines Patricia Highsmith’s artistry by conjuring up a crime story that resembles one of her own. It is adapted from a stage play by Joanna Murray-Smith, but is more cinematic than theatrical, since it uses many gorgeous locations in Europe to hide the fact that the story essentially involves two people talking in a house. The movie has a lot going for it—beautiful photography, clever staging, a splendid cast—but takes a little too long to get going, such that by the time the supposed secret of the story is revealed, we find ourselves slightly underwhelmed.

The premise involves a young man, Edward (Alden Ehrenreich), traveling to Switzerland to visit Highsmith (Helen Mirren), who emotes with various degrees of frowns and utters bitter insults as if they are her second nature. Edward’s goal, as he tells Emilia (Olivia Cooke) on the train, is to convince her to write another installment in her famed Ripley series. Immediately, we discover Highsmith is a difficult person, hard to impress and even harder to convince. Mirren’s performance creates a cartoonishly wicked character who has witty exchanges with the nervous young man destined for an impossible task.

Even though such exchanges are admittedly entertaining (Mirren has the comedic timing of a veteran), I did want things to get moving. Soon Edward sits down with Highsmith to discuss a new story, and we see it enacted on screen with the same leads. Ehrenreich transforms into a nameless man who strolls with a purpose, who is unafraid to initiate long pauses between his speeches. He finds a good balance in the dual role, but I’m not quite sure Olivia Cooke is able to have as much fun: her character embodies somewhat the same characteristics in both fantasy and reality, so her interactions with Edward grow somewhat redundant over time. There are about eight scenes where she is dumbfounded but charmed by Edward’s eccentricity. Mirren would re-appear intermittently to get the plot turning, but it just reminds us how much of the movie has us waiting for the kettle to boil only for it to stay at the same temperature.

The performances and dialogue remain consistent throughout the film, and Corbijn’s Hitchcockian stylistic flairs come with the package. The film, however, confuses mystery with suspense. I was left wondering why so much of it involves the fake story when the revelation at the end has relatively little to do with it. I recommend the movie for the delights you will find in the aforementioned elements, but I remain hesitant of the story, which has much more potential.

TIFF 2026 | "A Talent for Murder" Is An Entertaining Hitchcock Riff