A Talent for Murder, directed by Anton Corbijn and adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith from her acclaimed 2014 play Switzerland, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14 at Roy Thomson Hall. Distributed in the U.S. by Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment, the film releases in theatres on October 23. It stars Helen Mirren as novelist Patricia Highsmith, Alden Ehrenreich as a young New York publisher’s emissary sent to persuade her to write one final Tom Ripley novel, and Olivia Cooke as a fellow American abroad whose presence gradually complicates everything. The critical response from TIFF has been warm, if not rapturous, but genuinely enthusiastic about what the film gets right, and especially about what Ehrenreich does in it.
The story is set in 1995. Patricia Highsmith, now in her seventies and in declining health, has retreated to her chalet in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by her cats, antique weapons and deep distaste for people. Edward Ridgeway, played by Ehrenreich, arrives on behalf of her New York publisher with a contract in hand for a sixth Tom Ripley novel. Highsmith, characteristically impossible, refuses unless Edward can help her devise the perfect murder. A fictional one, of course.
From that premise, the film splinters into multiple layered narratives. Edward and Highsmith circle each other in psychological combat. A separate story begins to take shape based on the novel they are supposedly plotting together, in which Ehrenreich doubles as its duplicitous antihero. At the same time, a real-world relationship between Edward and a fellow American, played by Olivia Cooke, begins to blur the line between the life and the fiction being written around it. TheWrap’s Chase Hutchinson described the film as a “tense and playful little chamber piece riff on murder mysteries,” perhaps the cleanest summary of what it is.
In a film where Helen Mirren plays Patricia Highsmith, one of the most iconic crime writers of the 20th century, the most talked-about element at TIFF has been Ehrenreich. This observation recurs across the reviews. TheWrap’s Hutchinson was the most emphatic, praising Ehrenreich as “absolutely magnificent” and citing the actor’s ability to channel Highsmith’s Tom Ripley character while simultaneously playing an innocent young man who might not be innocent at all. Hutchinson called it darkly fun but measured work that never descends into camp or broad comedy.
IndieWire’s David Ehrlich was equally convinced. He described Ehrenreich slipping into Ripley’s skin as “a hoot,” noting that it is more rewarding to watch him face off against Mirren. Ehrlich also appreciated that the film offers no neat answers to its many characters and plotlines, suggesting that the lack of certainty may be part of the mystery’s appeal.
The Hollywood Reporter described a central tension running through the performance: the film is “true to Highsmith’s character” while the story is “entirely made up,” and Ehrenreich navigates that line with visible skill. Several reviews also note that he is a newly minted Tony Award winner for Becky Shaw, making his TIFF appearance part of a particularly notable period in his career.
Helen Mirren’s performance has drawn consistent praise, warmer in some quarters than others, but nowhere dismissed. Variety’s Guy Lodge called it “hawkish” and “caustically funny,” describing her Highsmith as the film’s defining mood-setter even when Ehrenreich is doing the more interesting work. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the film is “true to Highsmith’s character” and that Mirren embodies “all her devious, scowling genius” across the running time.
Mirren herself told the TIFF Studio press panel that Highsmith was “very private towards the end of her life, very cut away,” acknowledging the difficulty of finding performance material for a woman who deliberately removed herself from the public record. The Hollywood Reporter also noted the inherent complexity of playing someone with Highsmith’s documented personal history, including her misanthropic, racist and anti-Semitic views, while still asking an audience to find her compelling.
Olivia Cooke’s role as the fellow American who becomes entangled with Edward has drawn more limited critical attention, partly because the film’s three-narrative structure means her storyline competes for space. Variety acknowledged her presence as part of the film’s “tricky, sexy buildup” but noted that the setup is “finally more satisfying than the payoff,” suggesting that the film’s multiple threads do not resolve with equal elegance. The Hollywood Reporter described the way reality and fiction start to blur around her character as one of the film’s more intriguing formal games, even when it does not quite stick the landing.
Anton Corbijn, director of Control, A Most Wanted Man and The American, returns to fiction filmmaking with A Talent for Murder after more than a decade away from the format. Variety noted the “characteristically cool, ambient qualities” of Corbijn’s filmmaking as the film’s most consistent aesthetic pleasure, particularly in its use of the chalet setting and Swiss landscape.
TheWrap compared the film’s dynamic to Steven Soderbergh’s chamber piece The Christophers, noting that A Talent for Murder gets plenty of mileage out of its central duo simply sitting down to talk, exchanging verbal barbs instead of blades and bullets.
The primary critical reservation shared across publications concerns the film’s final act. Variety noted that the “tricky, sexy buildup” is ultimately more satisfying than the payoff, suggesting that the narrative game the film plays is more enjoyable in process than in resolution.
IndieWire acknowledged a quality of deliberate irresolution, noting that the film offers no neat answers to its many characters and plotlines. The publication framed this as either a strength or a limitation depending on the viewer’s appetite for genuine mystery over tidy conclusions. The Hollywood Reporter described the film as a chamber piece that relies on its two leads to carry weight that the screenplay does not always distribute evenly.
A Talent for Murder arrives at a moment when the murder-mystery genre has been enjoying renewed commercial and critical attention, from Rian Johnson’s Knives Out franchise to Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot films and Apple’s recent investments in the form. IndieWire noted this context directly, observing that when the genre is executed well, part of the pleasure comes from reaching a smart, tidy ending. Whether A Talent for Murder qualifies as tidy is debatable. Whether it is fun is not. The film opens on October 23.
A Talent for Murder appears to work best when it focuses on the psychological duel between Helen Mirren’s Patricia Highsmith and Alden Ehrenreich’s Edward Ridgeway. The critical response suggests that while Mirren provides the expected weight and eccentricity of the role, Ehrenreich delivers the film’s most surprising performance. The film’s biggest weakness appears to be its final act, where the intricate setup does not entirely translate into an equally satisfying resolution. For viewers drawn to character-driven mysteries, strong performances and ambiguity, however, the film seems to offer enough to make it an intriguing theatrical proposition.
Watch A Talent for Murder Trailer:
Film Details: A Talent for Murder
Director: Anton Corbijn
Writer: Joanna Murray-Smith
Based on: Switzerland (play) by Joanna Murray-Smith
Cast: Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke, Juliet Stevenson
Genre: Thriller
Distributor: Bleecker Street / LD Entertainment
Festival: Toronto International Film Festival 2026
Release Date: October 23, 2026
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