A Murder at the End of the World

As a big fan of whodunit type shows and movies I was really looking forward to Murder at the End of the World. It did not disappoint. First of all, what a cast. Clive Owen, Harris Dickinson, Emma Corrin, Brit Marling, Alice Braga, etc. With a cast like that you knew the acting was going to be on point so if the writing is good then you have yourself a good show. Well, the writing definitely holds up its end too. The show is about a Gen Z amateur sleuth/hacker named, Darby Hart (Corrin), as she attempts to solve the murder of her former boyfriend (Dickinson) at a secluded retreat with 8 other high profile guests. Corrin is coming off a Emmy nomination for her job in The Crown and she's just as good in this. She has a really bright future as an actress.

There is a lot to praise about "A Murder At The End Of The World": the production design, the extraordinary location (Iceland - a feast for the eyes of any "winter person"), the hypnotic score, the convincing and committed performances, particularly from Emma Corrin who resembles a lot a young Jodie Foster. There are passages that speak about cell phones and technology more eloquently than I ever could but say exactly what I want to say. However, many of the secondary characters are not developed enough, and the overabundance of flashbacks deflates some of the tension in the "present" tense; the ending is OK but not mind-blowing. The series does not reach the heights of the best episodes of "The OA", the previous project by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, but like its predecessor, it at least represents the vision, flaws and all, of its creators and not of a studio executive conference. It's an "auteur" endeavor in an era of mass factory production, and that is commendable. 7/10.

I just finished watching Murder at the End of the World because I hate waiting a week between shows so I wait until the season is done and then binge it. I'm definitely glad I did that with this series because it's better as a binge watch. It will keep you guessing throughout the entire show. While it's almost impossible to guess who actually committed these murders, if you really pay attention you might be able to guess who's behind them and why. This series has so many gifted actors in this while all at the top of their game. Brit Marling not only stars in this but is also one of the writers and if you've seen any of Marling's stuff you know she always delivers. Besides the performances, they bring a lot of important subjects to the forefront like climate change and artificial intelligence.

First off, I adore Brit Marling and all her work, I have been a big fan since Another Earth and her way of writing and directing along with acting is top par, (along with Zal Batmanglij and Mike Cahill) but maybe because I am familiar with her work I expected a little bit more from this show. At the end of the first episode is was obvious who the killer was and by mid-episode three is was obvious how it was done. After that it was just a wait to get to the end and the "reveal".

Apart from that the blueprint is classic Agatha Cristie, with a bunch of strangers isolated from the world and an amateur sleuth trying to solve the "whodunit" when one of them untimely dies. The setting is interesting and the location beautiful and quite original, the show is well worth a watch if you are into classic detective stories, I just wasn't so blown way by it as I expected going in.

I binged this in a weekend and overall I enjoyed it. There were many twists and turns, but there were also unlikely head scratching moments. I believe I enjoyed Darby more when she was younger and with Bill. I would not have minded more Joe Doe content, for sure. The setting in Iceland was interesting. I'd recommend it if you are looking for something new and you can suspend belief half of the time.

As an aside, I was bothered to distraction half the time over Darby's hair. Whoever was in charge of choosing her styles and continuity from one scene to the next missed the mark. When she was younger her, and Bill's hair for that matter, had terribly awful short bangs. Bill even had those same bangs later - what the what. Then Darby has plastered flat blonde hair that did not move and inch, ever. Finally she dyes it pink for a decent hairstyle for dinner, only to have that stylist inexplicably changed after she leaves the table. Later, it's wet, dry, parted then not, then shorter, then fluffed. I just could not stand it.