Directed by Nicolas Pleskof
Written by Nicolas Pleskof, Elsa Marpeau
Starring Alice Pol, Eddy Mitchell, Pablo Pauly
After a failed pitch to renovate an eccentric game publisher’s secluded mansion, the neurotic struggling architect Jeanne (Alice Pol) finds herself involved in a murder mystery as a family game day turns into a genuine crime. Trapped in the house by the killer, the remaining survivors are forced to play the killer’s game unless they can unmask the culprit.
Visually, Murder Party is a treat. It’s a richly coloured film that sticks to a bright, almost cartoon-like palette. There’s a sumptuousness expressed in the scenery and costuming that brings us into an unusual retro world reminiscence of 50s and 60s Technicolor, but placed in the modern era. It primes the audience for a whimsical tale such as told by a Jeunet, or a Gondry, or an Anderson – but Murder Party doesn’t deliver in terms of script.
Comedy is such a fine line to tread, and farce seems to be an even more difficult balance to find. Take it too far and it shifts into chaos, and this seems to be the course that Murder Party takes. Add to that the complex puzzle of an Agatha Christie-inspired whodunit and Murder Party quickly collapses in on itself, getting more outlandish and less well crafted as it goes along. There are some fun, wry character jokes here (such as Jeanne’s refusal to engage in the proceedings), but all too often it confuses comedy with mayhem.
Which is a pity, as there’s mileage to be made here – we’ve seen it before in Knives Out(2019) or Clue(1985). But despite its beautiful look, an engaging performance from Pol, and clever cinematography, Murder Party fails to demonstrate that killer instinct.
