--- title: "A Talent for Murder" year: 2026 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/a-talent-for-murder" fi1m_id: "a-talent-for-murder" imdb_id: "tt14129116" tmdb_id: 1084409 wikidata_id: "Q131935663" fi1m_score: 68 critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 10 published: "2026-10-22" updated: "2026-10-22T02:42:23.794132+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # A Talent for Murder (2026) Directed by Anton Corbijn · 1h 46m · MPA R · Drama, Crime ## Identity A Talent for Murder - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/a-talent-for-murder - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** a-talent-for-murder - **IMDb ID:** tt14129116 - **TMDB ID:** 1084409 - **Wikidata ID:** Q131935663 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14129116/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1084409, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131935663 **Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 68 from 10 reviews *In a sentence:* Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich deserve fewer interruptions and a more dangerous conversation > Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich make Anton Corbijn’s crime drama worth considering for their sparring. The plotting is less persuasive, and the film struggles whenever it asks us to care as much about anything else. ## Synopsis Patricia Highsmith (Helen Mirren) and Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich) face each other in a mystery built around their verbal sparring. Each exchange offers a reason to question what can be taken at face value, as fact and fiction become difficult to separate. Clementine Balfour (Olivia Cooke), Peggy (Juliet Stevenson), Douglas Balfour (James Faulkner) and Kathryn Grierson (Bríd Brennan) also feature. Directed by Anton Corbijn and written by Joanna Murray-Smith, the crime drama follows a contest of wits in which talk, suspicion and the telling of stories provide the means of keeping an opponent off balance. ## Review *A Talent for Murder* is a decent chamber thriller whose leading actors make a stronger impression than its plotting. Anton Corbijn builds it around the contest between Patricia Highsmith and Edward Ridgeway, with the promise that clever conversation might become something dangerous. The pleasure is in hearing two people test each other without either conceding much. The disappointment is that Joanna Murray-Smith’s screenplay does not consistently make their contest as unsettling as it needs to be. Helen Mirren gives Patricia Highsmith a prickliness that keeps those exchanges lively, without needing to make her agreeable. Alden Ehrenreich is a useful opponent because his performance allows uncertainty into the conversation; he gives us something to consider beyond the pleasure of watching the more forceful personality speak. We enjoyed their sparring, because neither performance lets the other settle into an easy rhythm. Together they make the talk worth attending to, even when the mystery itself is less compelling. The problem comes when the film moves away from them. Andrew Hulme’s editing cannot keep those departures from feeling like interruptions, and the pace suffers without the two leads sustaining it. Expanding a tightly focused drama can be worthwhile, but here it too often means waiting for the next encounter that matters. At 106 minutes, the film is not especially long; it simply gives us too much opportunity to notice which parts we prefer. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography gives the film the elegance this sort of civilised menace requires, although the polish can soften the threat. Dimitri Capuani’s production design contributes to that cultivated appearance, without making the surrounding world as involving as the central confrontation. The look does useful work when the film makes fact and fiction difficult to distinguish. Elsewhere, the handsome presentation leaves the stiffness of the staging rather exposed, with conversation carrying more than the images. That theatrical quality need not be fatal to a chamber thriller. A sustained exchange can hold our attention if the people speaking have enough to lose, or enough malice to make the next line matter. Here, Joanna Murray-Smith supplies cleverness more reliably than cruelty, and the dialogue does not always justify the attention the staging gives it. The scenes need a stronger sense that someone’s cleverness might cause lasting damage. The larger mystery never generates enough anxiety to sustain its complications. Turning a crime writer into the subject of a crime drama offers plenty of opportunities for games with storytelling, but those games still need consequences. The uncertainty about fact and fiction keeps the film busy. It does not reliably deepen our concern for the people caught up in it, and some of the expected surprise goes missing. For admirers of talkative crime dramas, this is worth considering with modest expectations of the plotting. Patience with theatrical staging will help, as will an appetite for difficult company. Choose it for Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich, rather than for a mystery that will keep you up afterwards. *Fi1m score 68, published 22 October 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics find A Talent for Murder an entertaining, witty mystery, with praise concentrated on Helen Mirren’s portrayal of Patricia Highsmith and her exchanges with Alden Ehrenreich. The leads’ verbal sparring gives the film much of its tension, even in reviews that find the plotting less persuasive. Several critics also admire its polished appearance, slow-building suspense and understanding of Highsmith’s fiction. The reservations concern momentum, theatrical staging and whether the mystery has enough bite. Opinion ranges widely: The Playlist finds the plotting consistently suspenseful, while The Guardian thinks it fails to deliver the expected surprises or give its leads sufficiently vicious material. Ehrenreich also divides opinion within the broadly positive reviews. The Wrap regards his nuanced, shifting performance as the film’s chief strength, whereas Deadline finds him less convincing when the story takes its meta turn. The performances attract firmer agreement than the script. ## Straight answers **Is A Talent for Murder worth watching?** *A Talent for Murder* is worth considering for admirers of talkative crime dramas, and we score it 68 out of 100. Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich make the verbal sparring enjoyable, but the plotting is less persuasive and the pace suffers whenever the film moves away from their encounters. **How long is A Talent for Murder, and what is it rated?** *A Talent for Murder* runs 1h 46m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and crime film. **Where can I watch A Talent for Murder in the US?** *A Talent for Murder* is not on any streaming or rental service in the US at the moment. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is A Talent for Murder, and is it suitable for children?** *A Talent for Murder* has a US R certificate, which signals adult material and makes it a cautious choice for younger teenagers rather than a recommendation for children; no UK certificate is supplied. We find its threat more conversational than frightening, but that does not establish how much violence or other adult content it contains. **How does A Talent for Murder compare to Strangers on a Train?** *A Talent for Murder* is the less tense choice beside [*Strangers on a Train*](https://film.one/film/strangers-on-a-train), which we recommend more readily for suspense despite its reliance on coincidence. Both let polite conversation encourage dangerous ideas, but Mirren and Ehrenreich’s sparring is the main attraction here, while Hitchcock makes the murder-swap proposal tense and slyly funny. **What should I watch after A Talent for Murder?** After *A Talent for Murder*, try [*Strangers on a Train*](https://film.one/film/strangers-on-a-train) (1951, Fi1m 86): For another encounter where polite conversation gives dangerous ideas room to grow. Then [*Purple Noon*](https://film.one/film/purple-noon) (1960, Fi1m 82): For Highsmith’s criminal imagination, Mediterranean sunlight and the practical business of deception; and [*Sleuth*](https://film.one/film/sleuth) (1972, Fi1m 82): For verbal combat between two men with an unhealthy appetite for games. ### Reviews we read (10) - **IndieWire**, Kate Erbland (B): Erbland finds the film an entertaining, clever mystery, though it loses momentum when it strays from its central two-hander. She especially praises the sharp, compelling face-offs between Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/a-talent-for-murder-review-helen-mirren-alden-ehrenreich-1235213279/) - **Slant Magazine**, Chris Barsanti (3/4): Barsanti calls the film an elegant, witty potboiler that captures the compulsions behind Ripley. He praises the performances and the film’s understanding of Highsmith’s work. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/a-talent-for-murder-review-helen-mirren-anton-corbijn/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Caryn James (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film an entertaining, sleek homage whose shortcomings do little to diminish its appeal. She praises Helen Mirren’s performance and the film’s sumptuous look and absorbing slow-burn style. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/a-talent-for-murder-review-helen-mirren-alden-ehrenreich-1236698230/) - **The AV Club**, Monica Castillo (B-): Castillo finds the film a clever, entertaining cat-and-mouse drama, though its staging feels too theatrical. She singles out the electric mental chess between Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich for praise. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/a-talent-for-murder-review-patricia-highsmith-helen-mirren-alden-ehrenreich) - **Time Out**, Elizabeth Weitzman (3/5): Weitzman finds the film underpowered overall, despite Helen Mirren’s lively performance as Patricia Highsmith. She singles out Mirren’s spirited turn, while faulting the meta-mystery for not cutting deep enough. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/a-talent-for-murder-review-2026) - **The Guardian**, Benjamin Lee (50/100, inferred): Lee finds the film an admirable but uneven return to twisty chamber thrillers, with its plot failing to deliver the expected surprises. He praises Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich as a formidable pair, but says the script gives them too little truly vicious material. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/sep/15/talent-for-murder-movie-review) - **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (35/100, inferred): The headline characterizes the thriller as underwhelming, suggesting a negative verdict. It singles out Helen Mirren’s spiky portrayal of Patricia Highsmith. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/a-talent-for-murder-review-helen-mirren-is-spiky-author-patricia-highsmith-in-anton-corbijns-underwhelming-thriller/5220450.article) - **The Wrap** (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a joyous, tense showcase that works especially well because of Alden Ehrenreich. They single out his nuanced, shifting performance as the film’s standout strength. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/a-talent-for-muder-review-helen-mirren-alden-ehrenreich/) - **The Playlist**, Zachary Lee (B+): The critic finds it a first-rate, suspenseful mystery that keeps viewers guessing through its final frame. They praise the lead performances and the way the visual worlds of fact and fiction gradually bleed together. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/a-talent-for-murder-review-anton-corbijn-helen-mirren-alden-ehrenreich-20260921/) - **Deadline**, Damon Wise (75/100, inferred): Wise calls the film flawed but very entertaining, with a strangely satisfying conclusion. He especially praises Helen Mirren’s mesmerizing portrayal of Patricia Highsmith, while finding Alden Ehrenreich less convincing in the film’s meta turn. [Read](https://deadline.com/2026/09/a-talent-for-murder-review-helen-mirren-anton-corbijn-patricia-highsmith-1237104717/) ## Details - **Director:** Anton Corbijn - **Director:** Anton Corbijn - **Screenplay:** Joanna Murray-Smith - **Cinematography:** Robbie Ryan - **Editor:** Andrew Hulme - **Production design:** Dimitri Capuani - **Costume design:** Gabriella Pescucci - **Producer:** Troy Lum, Gabrielle Tana, Andrew Mason - **Cast:** Helen Mirren as Patricia Highsmith; Alden Ehrenreich as Edward Ridgeway; Olivia Cooke as Clementine Balfour; Juliet Stevenson as Peggy; James Faulkner as Douglas Balfour; Bríd Brennan as Kathryn Grierson; Maddalena Vallecchi Williams as Eleanor; Nikolai Selikovsky as Doctor - **Runtime:** 1h 46m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 23 October 2026 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzFgGhFrx0o ## Where to watch in the US Not streaming, renting or buying in the US at the last check. ## If you liked this - *Strangers on a Train* (1951), Fi1m 86: For another encounter where polite conversation gives dangerous ideas room to grow. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/strangers-on-a-train.md) - *Purple Noon* (1960), Fi1m 82: For Highsmith’s criminal imagination, Mediterranean sunlight and the practical business of deception. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/purple-noon.md) - *Sleuth* (1972), Fi1m 82: For verbal combat between two men with an unhealthy appetite for games. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/sleuth.md) - *The American Friend* (1977): For a less comfortable journey into Highsmith’s world of compromised loyalties. - *Swimming Pool* (2003): For a crime writer whose curiosity makes a quiet retreat considerably less restful. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/a-talent-for-murder