I Watched the New Thursday Murder Club Movie... And I Have Thoughts 🎥 🧩

Today we're here to investigate a very important mystery. Is the adaptation of the Thursday Murder Club any good? [Music] Hello, hello, hello. My name is Megan. Welcome back to my channel. Welcome if you're new. Those of you who have been here a long time will know the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman is one of my favorite series of all time. Here they are, my beautiful children. This is yeah, one of my favorite series of all time. I've given every single book in this series five stars. I love Rich Osman. That's my man. I love him to the day I die. And you know, I've got a lot of you to read this series. I feel like I've successfully uh influenced a lot of you. This is a big part of our community. You know, my influence for this book has been felt not enough to invite me to the film premiere, but enough to invite lots of um influencers who haven't even read the books, but I don't really care. Sure, Jan. But I love this series. I love this series so much. So, when I heard that a movie was being made, Gagatron, well, to be fair, we knew about the movie in advance cuz he sold the rights to um Steven Spielberg's company, Amlin Productions, before the book was even published. But then for a long time, it was just that he'd sold the rights. didn't know whether it was going to be made and then this adaptation was announced on Netflix. I've been so excited and nervous for it since it was announced. But today we're going to be going through my review of it. I have seen it twice. Once in cinemas, once on Netflix. I did a movie night last night with my patrons watching it. Let's not bury the lead. I think I would give this adaptation four stars. We're going to talk about the pros and cons of it. I have more pros than cons, but on the whole, I did really enjoy this movie, but it's not perfect. It has flaws that we're going to talk about. some actually quite important flaws that I feel like for another person who loves this series could ruin the way that I feel about this movie, but I'm able to look past them. I'm going to try and keep this whole review non-spoilery for both the book and the movie, apart from there is one point that I have to talk about that is spoilery for both the book and the movie. So, I will let you know when that happens. I'll put something up on screen so you can skip past it. But, for the most part, this review is going to be non-spoilery for both the book and the movie. Okay, let's get into it with our first pro. The biggest pro of this movie for me is that in my personal opinion, it gets the essence of the book, the feeling of the book perfect. Okay, the way that I feel reading this book is the way I feel watching the movie. I think it's really spot on with the way it makes you feel. We'll talk about plot, we'll talk about characters, whatever, but like the emotions you get. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me happy. It made me sad. It made me emotional. Made me joyful. I laughed. I cried a number of times. I sweat. I danced. I got a shot. I ate. I think that in some ways is the most important thing for a movie adaptation of a book. you know, they often have to change characters or plot or make, you know, changes here or there, but as long as it feels like the book, I feel like it really is a faithful adaptation. I will say I have not reread this since I first read it. I am going to be rereading them all and probably doing like a spoilery recap for the fifth book coming out. So, I think I will be reading this maybe like in the next week or so. But yeah, I just think it in essence is perfect. like we'll talk about the flaws, but in essence, it is a perfect adaptation because it feels the same. You know, it's cozy. It's warm. It's comforting but emotional. I feel like it has that light and shade that the book has. A lot of reviews for this have been fairly negative or fairly like looking down on the movie from film critics saying it's like toothless, it's benol, bland, all of this stuff. I disagree. I think it does what it sets out to do perfectly in many ways. That's my number one thing. If you're like nervous about going into watching it, there will be things that if you're a big fan, I'm sure if you're a big fan, you've probably already watched it, but there will be things that make you go, "Huh? Make you go, what now?" But on the whole, I think it's lovely. I I come away from the film going, "Oh my god, that was lovely. I loved it. I had so much fun watching that. I had such a fun time." Like both times, I think it really held up on rewatch. And so, yeah, for the most part, I'm pretty happy with how they adapted it. And we'll get into more detail, but just the core feeling is perfect. It's perfect. And I am sad about all the kind of like mid to negative reviews that it's got because what this series does so well is is the joy of life. The joy the is that is that what you say? I don't know. And sometimes I feel like movies want to look down on that and they want like drama and scandal and like some people say this isn't, you know, pushing boundaries enough. Sometimes you just want something safe and comforting and I feel like that's what this book does. So that's the big pro. I don't want to spend too long on the point, but like I want you to know that in my opinion, most people come away from this going that was a lovely movie and I think they did the adaptation pretty good and at the core it fulfills what it needed to fulfill. Now, the big con, the big con is what it does not get the essence of is the complexity of the murder mystery. What Richman, I'm picking up again. What Rich Osman does so well in this book series is the weaving of the plot. It's a quite a complex plot, but done in such a skillful way that it doesn't feel complex, but like you constantly have I've said this before, it's very interesting structurally, three scenes going on at once, or three topics going on at once that you're like flicking back and forth between and then one will exit the stage, another one will enter, and another thing will exit the stage, another one will enter. Because this is a movie, it has really, really, really, really, really been stripped down and they have changed elements of the plot. And I know not everyone will like that. The way that they find things out in this, to my memory, again, I haven't read this in a long time, but the way they find things out in this, they have to work for it. There's little clue to little, clue to little clue, and it feels like in the movie there's like three big clues maybe, and then they figure everything out from there. I understand why they have to do this. It's a movie. You've got a 2-hour run time. Things have to be changed. Things have to be simplified to fit in. But I do think it is a shame. I do think it's a shame. I think it does take a little bit away from what the book is. I'm very disappointed. that I'm very sad. I'm I'm almost heartbroken. When I finish watching the film, I'm probably like, "That was a 4.5. I had so much fun." And then I sit and I think about this element of it and I get a bit angry about how much they have simplified elements of it. And when I was re-watching it last night, there were moments where I thought like, "Oh, you could have cut that scene to allow a bit more in the complexity of the murder mystery, you know?" So, they've got the core feeling down, but they haven't got the twists and turns and intelligence of the murder mystery plot down. It's like you've got a really interesting rock with really interesting shapes and angles to it. Imagine you're holding in your hand and then you buff it down to a really smooth pebble. The smooth pebble is still nice to look at, nice to hold, but it's not as interesting as what that really interesting rock was. I don't know if that's a good simile or metaphor or whatever, but yeah. And the changes, we'll get on to this in a second, but the changes that they've made, I don't love. I don't love the changes to the plot. I think it opens up some plot holes for like character morals and stuff. And at the end of the day, they just can't do it as good as Richard did, you know. But it's interesting actually. I watched he was talking a little bit about this on his podcast, The Rest is Entertainment, which I would 100% recommend you listen to. I've never missed an episode, I don't think, in like the over a year it's been running. But he was talking about how like when he has a book coming out, he's very nervous about it because that's like his child. Whereas when he went to watch the movie, he wasn't as nervous because it's like a grandchild. Like it's a step removed. And I think that's a good way to think about this film. Like it's not a clone copy of his child. It's like a grandchild. It's like a it's a step removed from what this is and it's not as good as what this is. But like I said, I do think it it tries to be a faithful adaptation. My next pro is that I think pretty much all the actors in this are wonderful. I think the individual performances and how it comes together as a cohesion is pretty pretty great. I will say David Tenant as Ian vent them vent I never know how to say his name vent them vent them whatever that geyser David Tenant is him amazing amazing David Tenant is the star of this film in many ways he knows he has a set amount of time to be there and to do things and he is going to take full advantage of it he I think he's in like five scenes in this he eats every single scene every moment every time the camera is on him. He is incredible. There's this scene at the start where he's like in the car on a phone call and someone on the phone call says something he doesn't like and he just goes like out of nowhere. It's just like it's such a good moment. And um in terms of the four main casts, like the four main Thursday Miller Club gang, again, I thought they all did a great job. Joyce was my favorite. Cela Emry's Joyce I absolutely adored. I just love her. I think she's the perfect cute Joyce. She's baking all these cakes and she's just so cute. cute. I just kept going. She's so cute. She was doing this little nose wrinkle that was wonderful. And minus spoilers. She has this line where she says, "What the fuck?" And her line delivery on what the [ __ ] Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I was originally very anti when the casting was announced. Very anti-Pros run. Very very anti-piser run. However, cuz he is just not Ron, right? Ron is like a little bit overweight, bald, gizer, you know, not world's handsomest man. Voted however many times. You know, that is not who Ron is. And watching the film, he is not Ron, but he is a different Ron. Do you know what I mean? Like, he is his own version of Ron, and I bought into his portrayal of Ron, but he is not book Ron. And you just got to be okay with that. You know, I enjoyed his portrayal. I found him funny. I had fun with his choices in the film and the way he adapted the film Ron, but it's very different to book Ron. And I think we just have to have to just accept that. I just think it's wonderful casting. There's not really a character I look at and I don't think the actor has done a wonderful job with the material they were handed, right? There's certain characters that I feel like maybe suffer a little bit because of the way that the the plot has been changed a little bit, but I feel like they all do a wonderful job with what they are handed. I just think everyone like takes a moment to shine and takes a moment to be great. I love Steven and Bogdan both together and individually. I mean, they are like my favorite. I love I love I love I love Steven and Bogdan. I love them so much. Obviously, in book one, it's only like the beginning of their friendship. I really, guys, I'm going to say it now. I hope we get more. I hope we get more. I hope they do the whole series. I really do. I hope this does well enough that they do the whole series, that we get The Man Who Died Twice. Let's get one every year. Come on, Amlin. Come on, Netflix. Come on, Christopher Columbus. Hold up. Wait a minute. was watching Richard's interview with Chris Columbus and it seems like we might be getting more Murder Club film is out today. Yes, on Netflix. Uh we recommend everyone goes to see it and maybe we'll do another one next year. Two more. Two more except there's loads more books. Chris, thank you so much. Let's go. Because I want to see more and I just loved Yeah, I loved Steven and Bogdan in this. I loved Steven. I thought Steven, the act of playing Steven was wonderful. Jonathan Price. I think I just think everyone had a lot of fun with this. I had a lot of fun. It's not that serious. It's not that deep. It's not Oscar nominated. Do you know what I mean? But everyone had fun and I had fun watching it. Okay. My next con is to do with how the ending has been changed. This is spoilers. I will put stuff up on the screen. Skip ahead if you don't want to know. If you have watched this already, let's discuss. I am concerned a little bit and I feel like it lets the character down a bit of how they have changed Bogdan's narrative in particular. There's a few other elements with how they've changed the ending that I'm a bit concerned about, but I'm concerned about Bogdan's character in particular. So, if you've read the book, Boggden, spoilers for the book and the film. Boggden kills Tony Curran. Current Curran kills Tony Curran. And in the book, he kind of kills him in cold blood. He kills it. I can't remember the plot. It's like he Tony killed a friend of his and like there's something to do with the taxi driver, Janney. I don't remember. Anyways, but like he intends to kill this man. He says, "I'm going to kill this man." And Bogdan's our bad boy. And the Oh, we all like a bad boy, though, don't we? Yeah. Not a [ __ ] murderer. Like, Chris, there's a bad boy and then there's evil. The journey that Bogdan goes on as a character in the books and the way that we grow to love him and like we like that element of him, that grit has been completely neutered in this book. Sorry, in this film, not in this book. In this film. So, in the film, recap, if you guys, well, I'm sure I'm sure if you're watching this bit, you've maybe seen the film. In the film, he's killed him by accident when looking for his passport because there's this whole, I think, new story line of like human trafficking and and Tony Curran and Bobby Tanner bringing Polish workers over and taking their passports. Yeah. So, he kills them by accident when trying to get his passport. And like, I don't like that. I want Bogdan to kill this man. I think they've made Tony nicer as well in the film. Whatever. I want Bogdan to kill this man. I think it adds so much more to his character and like Richman does such an interesting thing with the way that he plays with heroes and villains throughout the series. And I just don't like that ending, the way that they've done that ending. I initially watched it for the first time, I panicked when they arrested him. I was like, what the ever living [ __ ] You cannot write Bogdan out of the rest of the series. He is too important. Like if we adapt more of these films, we need we need Bogdan in these films. However, so in the in the book, they suspect they don't know for sure that Bogdan has killed Tony Curran and Elizabeth kind of lets him get away with it. Whereas unless he gets arrested, I think it undermines some character relationships as well. The way that Elizabeth doesn't trust that he wouldn't poison Steven. Like I feel like my memory in the book, they have a better relationship. I do think that the character relationships in general suffered a bit from this being a film and the pacing of it. I understand why they did all this because it makes him easier to redeem. You don't have to spend as much time on his character development if you do future films because he hasn't killed the guy on purpose. He's killed him by accident. So, I understand why they've done it. It just makes it a bit easier. And also, if this is the only film that they adapt, it gives it a more satisfying ending. Like, I think the movie fans wouldn't have been happy if Bogdan just got away with it or we didn't really get the answers to that murder. So, it does make sense, but it does concern me a bit. It just does concern me a bit. And on the whole, I think the way that they change things about the plot, questionable morals. Like, we let the human traffickers get away with it basically. But like the I've forgotten their names. The old couple who killed the uh guy in the past and then killed um why have I forgotten his name? Bent them. David Tenant. You've got to die. We're reporting you to the police. You know what I mean? I feel like the way that they've changed things undermines some character morals, some character decision making that would usually be there. I will say at times, this is just a general con now. I feel like the writing was a little bit overexpositiony at times. We we have a lot to fit in. They've cut a lot out and we still have so much to fit in in this movie. So, it makes sense, but it did feel like the writing was a little bit overexpositiony at times. Now, I just have some miscellaneous pros that I want to touch on before we end the video. It is funny. This film is so funny. There is laugh out loud moments. There is moment there's a moment where I actually feel no qualms about spoiling this, but um Joyce is drawing a massive penis and it's just so it's just funny. Like I laughed a lot whilst watching this movie. I cried also when I watched it in the cinema. I didn't cry yesterday when I was re-watching it, but I did cry when I was watching in the cinema. But I think the humor of this, I mean, it's not richman humor. It's not quite there, but it is funny. It's a funny film. It's lighthearted. I think it's something fun to watch with your mom. You know what I mean? I went with my mom or like it's that kind of film. I also personally love the way it looked. It has this warm glow that I feel like a lot of Christopher Columbus films have. If you think of like the first two Harry Potter films, Home Alone, it has this warmth, this like warm texture even to it. And there's been reviews that like it's so uninteresting visually. But I don't care. I don't need that for Thursday Murder Club. You know what I I don't need [ __ ] Christopher Nolan like interesting shots or whatever, but it just has this warmth. I think it's very pretty. I think like the sets they used were gorgeous. I think it plays into like British twe in a good way. I think this film is really like what people who aren't from Britain will want to watch when they want to watch something that's quintessentially British. You know, I think it appeal to people like that. Like cozy British. It's like the ideal of what Britain is. It's not reality, but this cozy little village and this amazing I mean, imagine living in this place as a retirement village. My god. My god. I don't want to even think about what this is costing them. Cooper's Chase, because they're living up in luxury, let it be known. So, yeah, I do think there is part of me, this is something I'm questioning. This isn't a pro or a con. Would I have preferred it to be a series? Because if it was a series, we would have been able to like adapt this perfectly, right? you have the time in maybe three, four episodes, I would imagine it would take to really fully embody the plot of this. However, I did enjoy the pace of the movie. I feel like it felt how reading this felt. That's the biggest thing is, right? It felt how reading this felt. It has this pace, this quickness to it that you have when reading this. You don't want to put it down. It feels fast. It feels quick. And I don't know if it being a series would have slowed it down too much. You know, again, in his podcast, Rich Osman spoke about how he purposely wanted it to be a movie at the time when he sold it in like 2018, 19, no, 2019, 20, because at the time, everything was being adapted into TV shows. So, he wanted it to be adapted into a movie. But, I do wish they hadn't made all those plot changes that they had, all the plot decisions that they that they made because in some cases, I feel like it undermined everything. So, that's kind of my review, guys. I give it four stars for the most part. I had a lot of fun watching it and I enjoyed it. I would love to know your thoughts down below if you have watched this. If you've not yet watched it, what are you doing? Go ahead and watch it. We need number two to be made. In particular, I need number four to be made because that is the best book in the series. I'm very excited for number five. Book number five coming out soon. I'm very excited for that. But yeah, on the whole, I think they did a pretty good job. I'm actually very excited. I'm glad I didn't reread this. I was thinking of rereading it before I watched the film. I'm glad I didn't do that and kind of let the film stand on its own, but I am now going to reread this this week. I'm going to reread them all. I think I'm going to listen to the audio books, which I've never done before. So, yeah, wish me luck with that regard. But yes, I want to know all your thoughts, all your opinions if you have watched the adaptation down below. And thank you so much for watching my little review, and I will see you soon. Bye. [Music]