The Podcast Murders (2022) User Reviews

Better than average

[tomfsloan · 6/10 · 6 February 2023]

The Podcast Murders was better than I expected. Although my expectations were not that high to begin with. I thought it was worth watching. A couple of twists here and there were nice. First off, thank you for casting two women who didn't look alike. It seems like in too many LMN movies, the lead women all have the same hair. If I have any complaints, mainly it would be that at the end, the dialog went on WAY too long. And there were a few other times when it got a little long winded too. She must have been in great shape because, after all the workouts at the gym, she never sweat and was hardly ever out of breath. But I'm being picky with that.

Otherwise, pretty good.

Top Notch Thriller with an unexpected twist

[hoops-53436 · 10/10 · 22 December 2022]

My wife and I are big fans of movies on LMN. On too many movies, we are able to figure out who the culprit is, sometimes very early in the film. The best ones keep you guessing for a long time. Without revealing spoilers, this one kept us guessing til the very end.

The writing is superb and the acting is very very good. We were especially taken by Natalie Sharp, who portrayed Ellie. We had seen her before (Baby Monitor Murders) and were delighted with her performance in this movie. We had her pegged wrong throughout the entire movie.

This movie is worthy of a second look and we will probably pick up clues and other things we missed the first go-around.

We hope we see more of Ms. Sharp in the near future.

Good Plot!

[erindesantos · 8/10 · 10 November 2022]

A solid plot that keeps you questioning who the killing is throughout the movie. Usually it's obvious, but this film does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat to figure things out. Overall the performances were good and I thought it had a lot of nice moments in it that allowed the audience to participate in figuring things out. An intelligent movie that doesn't skip a beat until the end. There was also a wittiness to the conversations about killers that was unique to this movie and made it more of an intellectual pursuit rather than your typical mindless entertainment that you get with these types of movies.

Hard figuring out the killer in this intelligent thriller

[marian-g · 9/10 · 26 October 2022]

Very clever, intelligent detective story for TV audience.

Podcast hostess' role and the plot overall keep audience captivated - all done well. Shocker towards the end. I suggest to really keep a good listen what's said in the podcasts and filter out opinions from the facts in order to figure out killer.

There's intellectual debate within movie about job roles when it comes to true crime / serial killers - offering unique perspectives on how to approach the crime from different parties involved such as a police officer, journalist, victims, families or folks who would not hesitate to capitalize on anything.

Saw it coming after a while...but still worth a watch!

[CranberriAppl · 29 October 2022]

Good movie...kept my attention...But I predicted it. Right down to the ending (except for one final twist). There were signs that it could go that way, but the scene where XXXXXX is sneaking around, pretty much clinched it. There's also some dialogue that is like bread crumbs and actions/reactions/emotions of the characters. The first "twist," in my opinion isn't the twist you're looking for, so keep watching things unfold.

Tonally, it's more serious than the average Lifetime "thriller," but I thought it would be darker, creepier, and more grisly like Sex, Lies, and Murder (one of Lifetime's best in a long time), given the subject matter, but it didn't quite get there. Don't get me wrong, none of that was a deal breaker. Chloe's actress carried the movie well. Ellie and Josh were well played also. Chloe and Josh had good chemistry and played a believable budding couple (for whatever that's worth in a Lifetime movie). The use of flashbacks are well done. It doesn't feel like they're used to fill in gaps, so much as to give genuine backstory and a timeline.

Nevertheless, my guessing the plot didn't ruin the enjoyment. I was glad to be right! Lifetime should do more movies that are tonally like this, than the hammish psycho of the week. This movie, SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER is what His Fatal Fixation should have been.

The All-Important Wink

[lavatch · 8/10 · 28 October 2022]

There is a defining moment in "The Podcast Murders" when two characters who are presumably strangers engage in a telltale wink at the end of their brief encounter in a coffee shop. That wink is rife with possibilities of meaning in this well-crafted thriller.

Chloe Joy had a rough childhood when her father abandoned the family and Chloe's mother died while she was still in high school. In college, her woes continued with an apparent assault that traumatized her to the degree that she left school and adopted a pseudonym.

Now, living as a recluse, Chloe runs a popular true crime podcast about the so-called Bombshell Murders that resulted in the deaths of four women: Emma Jacobs, Meghan Hansen, Amber Swanson, and Lucy Miller. Working out of her basement, Chloe has developed a large following as she seeks connections among the four unsolved murder cases.

Into Chloe's life comes a reporter named Ellie with whom Chloe closely bonds. She also meets a nice man named Josh at the Gym, and a budding romance ensues. It appears as if Chloe might be finally willing to let go of the gruesome murders and emerge from her shell.

The strength of the film was in the imaginative screenplay that included well-developed characters, crisp dialogue, a completely surprising twist, and, above all, an overall compelling structure. There is even a provocative hypothesis raised about what constitutes victimhood and what defines agency for those on the receiving end of horrendous crimes.

In any complicated murder case, the devil is in the details. And one especially important detail for unlocking the mystery of the Bombshell Murders is the unexpected wink.