Invitation to a Murder (2023) User Reviews

Beautiful Disaster, Come for a Mystery Stay for the Chandeliers

[thalassafischer · 5/10 · 24 June 2023]

So the acting in this flick is absolutely terrible but it certainly did not get any help from the writing. I am a life long fan of Agatha Christie and other mystery authors, as well as some film noir and I'm a little crazy about giallos. I also love a good mystery-comedy like the 1985 classic, Clue: The Movie with Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn. I would go as far as to say that Clue is one of my top five favorite films of all time. I thought more recent films like Knives Out and See How They Run were both fun and entertaining, while not being up to my highest standards. BUT THIS....did a teenager write this screenplay as fan fiction or what?

Casting a middle aged woman as the obnoxious but lovable, brilliant Hercule Poirot in a skirt could have worked. Could have. An older, curvier Mischa Barton can't plod through movies on her youthful glamorous looks anymore - she's borderline unrecognizable as an average, curvy blonde of about 40 - but that's not the problem: she can't act.

At bottom it is the writing that is terrible, though, that much is clear by the multiple caricatures which should be delightful and funny but just end up coming across as wooden and ridiculous.

There is a enormous dark house with chandeliers, and I do love a nice pair of vintage curtains.

Budget Agatha Christie/Knives Out

[stevelivesey-37183 · 5/10 · 30 April 2023]

At first this movie had all the hallmarks of a decent little detective mystery movie in the style of Knives Out or Mourder on the Orient express. It has a decent set up, a coherent plot, it establishes its characters and starts to build on their motives.

Unfortunately, it then suffers from having a beginning, no middle and then ends. Why? Probably due to budget or talent or deadline. Who knows. But right until it had me hooked about an hour in, it started to move toward a conclusion and finished.

It's a shame. Micha Barton was a surprise and the set up was good, so, half a film. Still, better than no film at all.

Quite dull

[duncan-wallbank · 5/10 · 26 April 2023]

A bit slow and plodding with some questionable acting and some atrocious attempts at acents. The script writing is somewhat lacking and the there's not much of a plot. By the time the titles roll at the ninety minute mark it feels like it's been half an hour too long. The characters are all a bit wooden and the actors seemed to be simply going through the motions. None of them seemed to engage with their character and I couldn't engage with them either.

Has a made for TV feel to it and I would strongly suggest it's not worth going to the cinema to see.

It's not terrible but it's not good either. If you're really bored then maybe give it a whirl.

A very un-English murder "mystery"

[rykskelton · 3/10 · 28 April 2023]

Set in England (or a small island just off the coast) however none of this movie feels like England, which isn't surprising considering it was filmed in the U. S. Even lacking English accents (accurate ones, anyway), and awkwardly including American idioms throughout (e.g. English police do not carry guns). An uninteresting mystery with an unlikable protagonist and a rather boring conclusion. It sets itself up as the potential first in a series of movies starring the same amateur sleuth, but I will not be interested in anything that follows. It is nothing like the Agatha Christie mysteries it is trying to emulate, and it leaves a rather unpleasant taste, so I'm off to watch something starring David Suchet to cleanse my palate.

A bad Agatha Christie knock off

[andrewrye-06535 · 2/10 · 27 April 2023]

This really was bad.

Connections impossibly made, bad acting and I do mean bad. Mischa Barton was atrocious, missing her queues, and an upper class accent that kept slipping. This felt like a stage production and they forgot to update it to 2023 standards. A weak performance and terrible writing.

None of the characters were likeable and none questioned their presence on the island. They even forgot that after discovering the first murder they sent the doctor to fetch help. And then he wouldn't search the dead body, poorly scripted rubbish.

Technology far beyond what was available and why would a recluse need sound proof rooms and secret passages? He wouldn't.

The nail was at the end when after realising the two characters who were just about getting it on were brother and sister. Oh well, lets be friends.....blech. And Mischa's character saying óh, I never had much use for money' this from a florist in a depressed 1920s? Give me a break Complete rubbish and I gave it a two because apparently they managed to get funding for this........how? Avoid at all costs!

I wish I hadn't RSVPed.

[lexingtonvintage · 1/10 · 29 April 2023]

I am shocked this terrible movie was made. The plot, acting, writing, costumes were terrible and pedestrian. Some of the accents made my ears bleed. One accent was a very painful affectation and reminded me of Dick van Dyke in "Mary Poppins." (Yep, I do know MB is British.) I truly hope this movie doesn't become a made-for-television series.

The lead character was too clever for her own good without an ounce of humility or likability. Hercule Poirot she isn't. Heck, she isn't even Hetty Winthrop.

Do yourself a favor and skip this pile of rubbish. Turn to the original if you want to watch a program of intelligent detectives solving murders: Agatha Christie.

liked two thirds

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 26 August 2023]

Miranda Green (Mischa Barton) is a florist in 30's England. She is skilled in observing and is obsessed with murder mystery books especially those of Agatha Christie. She receives a mysterious invitation from unknown textile tycoon Lord Findley. She joins five other guests on a passenger train to his island estate. There are three staff members but Lord Findley is apparently late in arriving. Soon, Miranda gets her murder mystery to solve.

I liked about two thirds of this movie. It has the Agatha Christie feel. Initially, the main problem is its artificial tone. It doesn't help that these people are going to this place for nothing more than curiosity. Miranda would do it, but only one other seems to have the motivation. It's a murder mystery whodunnit. It's fun. Then the last section tries to solve the mystery quickly and randomly. I don't like a lot of the last third. In the age of streaming, this needs more time and this could be two or three part series. In an aside, I did not recognize Mischa Barton. I assumed that she's some random English actress.

A very cheap Agatha Christie rip off

[mindoscp · 2/10 · 29 April 2023]

The movie is probably inspired by "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie in its set up.

But from there it's all too predictable and the actors are terrible.

The plot is as weak as the cast. The loop holes in the story are legion.

I love the whodunnit kind of movies but this is so depressing bad ... so bad that I cried for the time spend watching this crap, minutes of my life that were lost and that I won't get back.

The most positive part of the movie was the single expression "the end".

Please save yourself the depression of watching this poor spectacle of what could have been a decent movie.

Enjoyable enough murder mystery.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 25 December 2023]

Six strangers receive invites to the home of Millionaire Lewis Findley, when they arrive their host is absent, they anxiously wait to learn their purpose for being there.

The first couple of minutes all seemed to point to one thing, a reworking of And then there were none, the ultimate Whodunnit, we had the strangers, the island, the invitations, that's where the similarities end.

Let's be honest, it's nonsense, but if you are fan of mysteries and whodunnits, you may just get some enjoyment out of it, there are some interesting moments, and the story has a few clever ideas.

For me, it had the look and feel of a stage play, entertaining enough, maybe a little rough around the edges at times.

The accents are a little hit and miss, and at no point does it feel as though it's England, I've not checked the production details, but I'm assuming The States or Canada.

Mischa Barton does a fine job, more Fletcher than Marple, but pleasing enough. Chris Browning stole the show for me, I enjoyed his performance.

6/10.

So bad

[CineviewUK · 1/10 · 5 June 2023]

The acting is decidedly absolutely awful in this boring mish mash of a ripped off Agatha Christie story. The script is boring and lacklustre, the dialogue overstated and precarious, but what makes this film even worse is the dreadful attempt at accents. Once again little to no character development. I find the blocking of the actors in some scenes really unimaginative, they just stand in a line and recite their lines almost robot like. It's a shame as they have some nice locations and sets, but nothing special enough to warrant sitting through what potentially could have been quite an exciting and thrilling movie had it been taken up by better screenwriters and a more skilled and imaginative director. Don't waste your time on this one.

Worth the viewing and time. Entertaining.

[jarrodnloribooth · 8/10 · 7 October 2023]

I rate this very obvious, grade A, mid-budget film 7.5-8, out of 10. In general, it's a good film. Come on, kids. This isn't hard to see. The sound, dubbing, sets, and props are all well done. Little to no computer enhancement. Wardrobe, hair, make-up are passible for the 1930's, as are the antique period cars and boat. Grade B, Low or mid- budget films never come close to reaching this basic quality level of production. Stephen Shimek does a good job directing, Mischa Barton adequately delivers in the lead role. All supporting cast give a solid performance. The movie is an homage to Agatha Christie mysteries, and it basically delivers that homage. It's a good, realistic starter mystery for over- 17 teens and young adults. Mature parents should be able to explain the plot, and motives. It's realistic, and better than 65% of the crap being produced in hollywood right now. Don't pick it apart, it's a mid-budget film.

Watchable

[battlecrusadersgames · 6/10 · 29 April 2023]

This is a murder mystery in a setting similar to films like Murder on the Orient Express and Clue, sadly as much as this isn't a terrible movie, it isn't up there with those classics.

On the plus side, the story is quite compelling and doesn't go in the obvious direction. It's also not stuffed with too much filler.

Unfortunately there are some major criticisms i have with this, not least the atrocious accents that range from Traditional English to Pantomine Dame. However it's the main character where's i have most issues. First off, she looks like she's walked in right off the catwalk, not Mid 20th Century England, but worse than that, is how her character behaves. Are we really to believe a group of Adults, most older than her, are going to be bossed around like school Children by a Florist. She even gives orders to the Detective. Why on Earth would anyone let a normal civilian interrogate and order them around, even if she was good at selling murders. At least Jesscia Fletcher of Murder she wrote had the decency to speak to people with respect, this woman was a trumped up snob that in reality would be laughed at. This is a shame, because it's so distracting from the movie, it means it's quite hard to get into.

Still, if you have 90 mins free and there's no better options, it should prevent boredom.

Disengage the Brain for 90 minutes

[knoll-75222 · 4/10 · 8 May 2023]

First things first, I don't wish to speak ill of the dead, but did Mr O Donnell ever hear anyone actually speak in the english language?

As for Misha Barton, IMDB says she's had a career spanning more than 20 years, but I have never actually seen her in anything, and I have to say, I thought she was probably Canadian, especially with the cut glass English Accent she affected!

This film is set in the 1930's, a shop girl, even a florist, would not have the accent Ms Barton adopts, she is so posh our own Queen, God Bless her, never sounded as posh, and frankly with the accent and Miranda's dreadful and laughable dialogue I so much wanted the reason she didn't have her return ticket was because she would be bumped off in minutes of arriving on the island.

As for the rest of the plot, there are so many holes to be plugged, I don't have time or the inclination to go through them, I will point out one glaringly obvious hole, this occurred during the first (alleged) murder. As anyone knows, in the case of a murder or even an injury, the Doctor at the scene is the first into action, Armstrong didn't bother to check for sign of life. In fact, he was the one who ran off to get help! Totally implausible! Obviously he would have known Kane wasn't dead, so why have him at the scene, the writers could have had him taking a very long cold shower, as he so wanted to sleep with Ms Blanco...

I leave you the viewer to draw your own conclusions, just be prepared for the grating accent and acting of Ms Barton.

I wondered if it could possibly be as bad as the reviews said it was...

[backofthevan · 1/10 · 20 July 2023]

...so I watched it, and it WAS!!! Absolutely dreadful!! Silly, tedious, ridiculous and BORING from beginning to end. Where to start?

I suppose it was meant to be "suggestive" of an Agatha Christie, so England 1930s-1940s scenario. I got very little, or any, 1930s England feeling from this. Upon first meeting, the characters very casually call each other by their first names. Wrong. A cop shows up and displays his holstered gun. No. British police, to this day, do not carry firearms. But those are just fiddly details.

Bossy Boots, I mean Miranda Green (Mischa Barton's ridiculous character) takes charge, telling everyone what to do, and they do it. Who elected her boss? A young woman (she looks about 50 but I think she's closer to 35 IRL), a complete stranger to everyone, barks out orders and everyone silently obeys. Why? "And that's not a request..." she barks, and they all do whatever it is she's demanded this time.

She seems able, either by osmosis or amazing gifts of prognostication, to know what has happened, what will happen, who did it, and why, without the slightest hint of actual evidence. "Someone banged his head with the door," she announces, although neither she nor anyone else in the room (to her or our knowledge) witnessed it. She opines that someone lost his father young because his shoes aren't well cared for. Huh???

And s-l-o-w moving?!?!? It takes minutes for a character to walk a few feet from the sofa to the door, with a supposedly ominous soundtrack to back it up. She's just leaving the room! Is this meant to be scary? The soundtrack never lets up trying to tell us "Look out! Something creepy might happen!" Might. Doesn't.

And the characters never stop spouting cliches. The script is preposterous! Cliche characters as well. The craggy American "journalist", alcoholic, gum-chewing, chain-smoking, calls women "sweetheart"... straight out of Central Casting. Bizarre accents, as well. Another review mentioned accent accuracy (!) and gave an example of having worked with Indian people and therefore knew the Indian accent was accurate. Well, I don't know what film that person watched because there is no Indian character in this piece of trash, correct accent or not.

I actually caught myself falling asleep during this, but I was determined to watch it through to the sorry end. Invitation to a Murder, a blatant rip-off of Christie's "And Then There Were None," is so bad, no doubt it will generate either a TV series or countless sequels. Heaven forbid!

Pretty basic interpretation of the murder mystery amongst strangers format

[thecrackfox-38028 · 2/10 · 26 April 2023]

Perfectly bland. Easy to watch in the background, but nothing memorable. Mischa Barton's English accent is straight from high school drama class. It's exactly the same as the many murder mysteries with a cast of characters that came before it, but lacking any thrills. This movie feels like an American trying to capture the spirit of a classic Agatha Christie and missing the mark. I enjoyed the setting of the beautiful old estate and the period costumes. If it had any humour it would be leaning towards Clue, but the movie took itself deadly serious, to its own detriment. As the bodies started to pile up, I knew there should be rising tension, but I just didn't care enough about any of the characters to feel it.

Just, No.

[seetheworld-46631 · 2/10 · 9 October 2023]

I wanted to like this. I couldn't wait to see it. Now, I just wish I had watched something else. Disappointing to say the least. Have the writers ever seen a good who-dunnit? As for the characters, good grief! The lead was horrible, I'm not familiar with her so I'm hoping it was just this movie making her look bad, for her sake. Her character was annoying and I'm not sure why any of the other characters even listened to her. I didn't care about any of them so it was pretty useless. The confession at the end was ridiculous. I really hope they don't make a sequel. They should apologize to Agatha Christie.

Perfect for Agatha Christie Fans

[karenfamulski · 7/10 · 26 June 2023]

I think this movie is a fun watch. It has a quick pace with great atmosphere. For those who like cozy mysteries this movie is ideal.

This movie reminded me of "Then There Were None". Not so much so that you think it is a rip off of the original film but more as a homage.

I look forward to more movies with the character Miranda Green. My only criticism of her character is she is a bit of a know it all and could be made more likeable. I like the idea that she is a fan of Agatha Christie and loves mysteries. She is easy to identify with. I think if future movies are to be made with this character it would be nice if she had a sidekick.

I enjoyed this movie. I would definitely recommend it to others.

An Agatha Christie Copy that doesn't really make it

[rodw-77-924268 · 3/10 · 26 April 2023]

Its very much a copy of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" that was made into a brilliant UK mini-series in 2015.

The first half is straight down that line but goes off on a different tangent later in the movie. If you are initially going to follow a classic Agatha Christie whodunnit, set in the early 20th century, on a bleak English island and then just change the end so it looks original, you are doomed to failure.

A pity really, as there was the making of a great piece but the lack of originality creates an expectation that lets you down, really badly. I just didn't warm to the characters, at all, and particularly found the lead, Miranda Green, unrelatable.

It is watchable but don't expect a good whodunnit that builds and ends as it should with the classic reveal. It has that structure but lacks the storytelling skills to make it work.

In all a real disappointment.

very good...

[ops-52535 · 7/10 · 26 April 2023]

Set crimedrama, of the good old mrs marple of agatha cristies style of murder. Its cast is the kind youll never see in big busting movies, so when i saw some of the names i hadnt much of a hope, but that proved me wrong. Dress them up in ancient clothing and sweep their dialects, and the film is quite good for a mysterious evening...

there are some big flaws that annoys the grumpy old man, the island that seems small and unreachable to enter due to steep cliffs, and surtainly not spacious for a big mansion is one of them.

The technical quality and set managments and setups are indeed well worth a look if youre in for the devious art of a kill with a chit chat.

Almost unwatchable...

[shenmeshenmeganma · 1/10 · 2 May 2023]

Oh dear, this is woeful. Accents are terrible; plot would fit on the back of a matchbox and has more holes than a fishing net; performances are wooden; introduces technology that simply wasn't available at the time; the main character is obnoxious, arrogant and unlikeable; turns out two characters who turned up as a 'couple' were actually related; CGI is cheap and jarring.

Unless you have nothing better to do, such as perhaps flaying yourself alive or gouging your eyeballs out with a spoon, don't waste your time.

I cannot fathom how this movie/script made it past the initial stages of production, or how it secured funding. My 5 year-old could write a more convincing, less obvious plot. I worked out who the 'killer' was within 10 minutes and whilst waiting for the three-act structure to reveal itself, I realised there was only one act. Just a beginning. No middle or end.

I hear the main 'star' is now working in soap operas, and to be honest, they have better production values than this. Good luck to her, but do not waste your time on this tripe.

My kind of mystery

[alinelunardy · 10/10 · 27 April 2023]

I really love this! I hope they're doing a series of this, Mischa Barton is awesome. I love the background scenes and the characters. I miss these kinds of movies and I'm so glad I've decided to watch this. What a gem. If you're into miss marple and agatha Christie mysteries you should definitely check this one out. So gutted that a lot of Agatha Christie's movies being butchered these days and so I'm very ecstatic to find this gem. Cannot recommend this more. We need more of Miranda green please. Maybe sequels or even consider to make it a tv series. I'm sure it will attract a lot of viewers.

Pretty good

[LetsReviewThat26 · 6/10 · 27 January 2024]

Miranda green is sent a letter that invites her to an island. It's a pretty small one and once she's on the train it's clear she's not the only one. In fact there are five of them all together and they are seemingly unrelated, all of which don't know why they are going there. It's always interesting seeing films set back then. The costumes are nice to look at and the limited tech is a good look aswell. As the day progresses though things happen and a mystery is soon a foot,one that Miranda green tries to solve in her own Sherlock esque way. It's a decent film and a good mystery. Acting is not the best, but each actor brought their selves to the roles and it was a good watch.

It had potential

[joshlewis-45549 · 4/10 · 28 May 2023]

Wooden acting, bad accents and very thin script made this movie more of a grudge watch than the good mystery thriller that I had anticipated. Mischa Barton tries but just came across as unlikeable as the lead character. Bored florist with an interest in Agatha Christie novels and a eye for detail that apparently escapes everyone else, gets invited to a mysterious weekend ina private island via a hand delivered wax embossed letter from Lord Findlay. She spins finds herself on a train en route to said island along with 5 others with the same invitation. She quickly discern that one of the six doesn't belong and the clumsy plot is off and running.

Don't expect much from this movie. It's just okay. You won't finish and wish there was another installment with the detective protagonist at the helm. None of the characters are memorable and the conclusion less so.

Sweet Lord Almighty

[jethrojohn · 1/10 · 3 October 2023]

I hadn't heard of this before I stumbled across it online, and my lord, I knew why almost immediately.

I get what they're going for here. It's an Agatha Christie homage type thing with a plot heavily inspired by Christie's And Then There Were None.

But there are so many baffling choices.

The first being, why set it in England?

NONE of the cast can do an even passable English accent, and when your lead is doing an almost unbearably bad one (even though she was BORN in London), someone should have said "let's just set it in America".

The woman who is supposed to be Spanish thinks Spanish people end every word with "shhhhh" for some reason.

The next issue is the appalling acting. Bad accents aside, they can't act. At all. None of them seem to have any talent, especially the lead, who just fails at being clever or self-assured.

Watch one scene where she's supposedly using powers of deduction to say whether people are telling the truth. It's very Holmes-like, but if Holmes were written by a toddler with no understanding of what made that character clever.

We also have the historical inaccuracies. There are so many problems and anachronisms that I stopped counting for fear of going mad.

Here are a couple.

British police carrying weapons.

A butler/servant with a horribly misaligned tie (in an exclusive, rich household, are you mad?).

At one point, our lead (a supposed mystery addict) calls Poirot "Inspector Poirot", which bugged me more than I care to mention.

The only nice thing about this film are the sets, which are quite gorgeous. Their location team chose a good place to set this story.

There are also a couple of nicely composed shots, and the direction on the whole is competent.

Everything else is terrible though. Every time the lead tries to be clever or make deductions, you'll get annoyed, trust me. Her delivery is just that awful.

(The script doesn't help either...)

A lot of this could have been avoided if they had just set the film in the US and let the cast use their real accents. Maybe then the acting would have passed muster.

I looked into the crew behind the film, and they seem to have all produced children's movies of varying degrees of terrible. Nothing really worth watching, so I suppose they were challenging themselves here.

Apparently, the lead actress has been doing this for ages. Mischa, her name is, but I can't see how she could have been acting for so long and not have learned anything.

No one else is really worth noting here.

Avoid at all costs.

Utterly Dreadful

[d.e.katz · 1/10 · 16 May 2023]

I am a fan of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers mysteries; they are, for the most part, entertaining, well written and suspenseful. The many stage and screen adaptations of stories by these authors have delighted audiences for decades. That said, imitators abound, and some produce a quality product. In the case of "Invitation to a Murder," however, I found no redeeming value. Foolishly, I ignored the reviews and purchased the DVD.

There is nothing good to say about this movie. The dialog is trite; the acting is awful (though that could be the fault of the director); the score is overbearing; even the lighting is uneven. The characters are undeveloped and weak. Their interaction is forced (and, frankly, unbelievable). The story makes no sense at all, and even the denouement is patently ridiculous.

It appears as though the producers intended this to be a pilot for a TV series featuring Mischa Barton as a Miss Marple-type amateur detective. If that is the case, and with all do respect to Ms. Barton, she should run fast in the opposite direction.