Directed by: Anton Corbijn
Written by: Joanna Murray-Smith
Starring: Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke, Juliet Stevenson, Brid Brennan, and James Faulkner
Runtime: 106 minutes
‘A Talent for Murder’ skillfully honors Highsmith’s work, while the gifted Mirren and Ehrenreich successfully devour a new story
Patricia Highsmith (1921 – 1995) was a talented writer.
Born in the Lone Star State, Patricia became a literary star by penning over 20 novels, including “Strangers on a Train”, which Alfred Hitchcock adapted in 1951, and five “Ripley” books that starred the infamous character, Tom Ripley, a devilish sociopath who is best known these days in director Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999). Matt Damon played the title character in that movie, and other actors brought Ripley to the silver screen, including Dennis Hopper in “The American Friend” (1977) and John Malkovich in “Ripley’s Game” (2002).
Highsmith certainly left her mark on 20th-century and 21st-century pop culture.
In 2026, director Anton Corbijn (“A Most Wanted Man” (2014) and “The American” (2010)) and screenwriter Joanna Murray-Smith place Highsmith as a character in “A Talent for Murder”, a nifty crime flick that celebrates this Texas native’s work and unapologetically features her apparently cantankerous persona.
The gifted, Oscar-winning Helen Mirren plays Highsmith in the 1990s, a recluse living in a spacious home in Switzerland, when Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich), a New York representative from her publisher, travels lengthy distances to pay Patricia a visit to convince her – in a cheerleader, you’ve-got-this manner - to write one more Ripley novel.
Patricia, however, has no intention of composing another Ripley book.
Mirren and Ehrenreich lean into this conflicted pairing, where an aging, frustrated-with-the-world immovable object has built up decades of emotional calluses to resist a plea from anyone, let alone a young upstart sent on an errand. She remarks on his youthful, inexperienced appearance with vocal daggers about being fresh out of “kindergarten” and “braces.” Meanwhile, Edward gushes over Patricia’s work, like her biggest fan, to convince her to write.
This first-act sequence seems to last 10 or 15 minutes, as Patricia and Edward volley between snippy insults and heaps of praise inside Highsmith’s residence, one with a gun collection, an eerie portrait of the famous homeowner, and poison in the pantry.
Think of Jonathan Harker entering Count Dracula’s castle, as Patricia playfully gives Edward good reason to fear for his life. Mirren is an intimidating force as Highsmith, slinging a never-ending arsenal of slights and grievances, while Ehrenreich’s Ridgeway keeps up nicely by absorbing her verbal assaults and sending back empathy and hope.
They eventually make a pact that she could be convinced to write a new Ripley novel if her protégé can conjure a worthy, murderous story during his brief stay at Chateau Highsmith, set in a gorgeous, mountainous Swiss spot.
The film then shifts to Highsmith and Ridgeway’s exchanges of book ideas that shuttle their imaginations to Rome, and Ehrenreich essentially becomes Tom Ripley on the big screen. His mark is Clementine Balfour (Olivia Cooke), a well-read American visiting her wealthy grandfather.
“A Talent for Murder” then grows into a new novel within Corbijn’s film. Not only does Edward double into another role, but the inspiration for Clementine came from his chance meeting with the “real-life” Clementine en route to Patricia’s home. Ms. Balfour, also an American, is visiting family in Switzerland.
It’s easy to fall into Corbijn and Murray-Smith’s connected story within a story, especially with the intriguing foundation Mirren and Ehrenreich build in the first act.
However, the movie also becomes a distracting stutter step.
Highsmith and Ridgeway beautifully whisk the audience to Italy as cinematographer Robbie Ryan lavishes the screen with a striking backdrop of the iconic city that offers “The Great Beauty” (2013) vibes. Edward’s alter ego diabolically pursues a fictional Clementine with monetary goals in mind. But rather than let this new Ripley yarn spin uninterrupted, Corbijn and editor Andrew Hulme repeatedly return to Highsmith’s home as this new two-person authoring team sorts out the particulars, and the frequent revisits to Switzerland pull us out of the budding, potentially murderous fantasy in Italy.
Have no fear.
There’s a method to the filmmakers’ madness.
The screenplay shifts in another direction that blurs make-believe and Ridgeway’s existence in the here and now, and this second angle drives intrigue with Edward’s state of mind and his backstory. This initial frustration with the start-again-stop-again nature of Ridgeway and Highsmith’s new literary chronicle melts away with the aforementioned new wrinkle about Edward’s present-day happenings, while Patricia finds fascination with this welcome break from her solitary monotony. Alden is a thriving on-screen partner with Helen, and he reaches impressive thespian heights as Corbijn and Murray-Smith challenge him.
It’s a blast to watch Ehrenreich and Mirren operate in this new twist on Highsmith’s literary gifts, and “A Talent for Murder’ also skillfully honors the woman’s work.
Jeff’s ranking
3 / 4 stars
