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A Talent for Murder review – Helen Mirren is a viperous Patricia Highsmith in hit-and-miss thriller

Toronto film festival: A fictionalised version of the cantankerous crime author plots a murder with an ambitious editor in a story in need of a sharper edge The restrictions of Covid led to an inevitable rise in safely contained chamber-piece movies, where a handful of characters find themselves in a usually remote house, dialogue taking obvious precedence over action. There were some highlights, such Kevin Williamson’s timely slasher Sick , and some considerable low points, such as Sam Levinson’s vapid drama Malcolm & Marie , but while we had plenty of them, none of them rivalled some of the greatest and smartest pre-pandemic examples. The very best tended to be based on plays and quite often starred Michael Caine. He was in Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth, which went from Tony to Oscar success back in the 1970s, and then the arguably even better Deathtrap in the decade after, which Sidney

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Toronto film festival: A fictionalised version of the cantankerous crime author plots a murder with an ambitious editor in a story in need of a sharper edge The restrictions of Covid led to an inevitable rise in safely contained chamber-piece movies, where a handful of characters find themselves in a usually remote house, dialogue taking obvious precedence over action. There were some highlights, such Kevin Williamson’s timely slasher Sick , and some considerable low points, such as Sam Levinson’s vapid drama Malcolm & Marie , but while we had plenty of them, none of them rivalled some of the greatest and smartest pre-pandemic examples. The very best tended to be based on plays and quite often starred Michael Caine. He was in Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth, which went from Tony to Oscar success back in the 1970s, and then the arguably even better Deathtrap in the decade after, which Sidney

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According to The Guardian’s source item, A Talent for Murder review – Helen Mirren is a viperous Patricia Highsmith in hit-and-miss thriller, Toronto film festival: A fictionalised version of the cantankerous crime author plots a murder with an ambitious editor in a story in need of a sharper edge The restrictions of Covid led to an inevitable rise in safely contained chamber-piece movies, where a handful of characters find themselves in a usually remote house, dialogue taking obvious precedence over action. There were some highlights, such Kevin Williamson’s timely slasher Sick , and some considerable low points, such as Sam Levinson’s vapid drama Malcolm & Marie , but while we had plenty of them, none of them rivalled some of the greatest and smartest pre-pandemic examples. The very best tended to be based on plays and quite often starred Michael Caine. He was in Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth, which went from Tony to Oscar success back in the 1970s, and then the arguably even better Deathtrap in the decade after, which Sidney

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The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-15T21:58:01+00:00.

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Primary source: A Talent for Murder review – Helen Mirren is a viperous Patricia Highsmith in hit-and-miss thriller via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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