First Look at The Thursday Murder Club shows retirees teaming up to solve a local killing

The Thursday Murder Club lands its first look with a clean hook: four retirees at Coopers Chase trade a “jigsaw room” for a cold-case war room, and a new resident is drafted in when a local killing hits close to home. The clip positions The Thursday Murder Club as a cozy crime movie with an active pulse, starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as the core quartet.

The preview shows how the club’s off-the-clock hobby becomes a live investigation, while also sketching character skills the case will lean on. Netflix sets the global streaming date for August 28, with the film directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, adapted from Richard Osman’s bestseller with the same title.

For audiences, the headline takeaway is straightforward: The Thursday Murder Club is about retirees teaming up to solve a local killing, and the first look shows the moment those amateurs become the team on the case.

What does the first-look clip reveal?

The scene follows Joyce Meadowcroft arriving at Coopers Chase and touring the amenities with her daughter. The supposed “jigsaw room” opens on photos and files from an old homicide, with the club mid-analysis rather than mid-puzzle.

The clip then connects Joyce’s past as a trauma nurse to why The Thursday Murder Club wants her in the room: they need medical literacy and someone who can read evidence with clinical precision. The piece also signals chemistry: Joyce earns a trial seat and goodwill by showing up with sponge cake, and the four exchange information like a team that has done this before.

As per the Netflix Tudum report dated August 21, 2025, Richard Osman said,

“[The Thursday Murder Club] have lived these extraordinary lives. Take these people who are underestimated, who have these incredible skills, put them together, and they can achieve anything..”

As per the Netflix Tudum report, Pierce Brosnan, who plays Ron, remarked,

“I love that he’s like a bull in a china shop at times,”

Describing Ron’s approach when the club needs to press an angle quickly. The quote frames how the first look uses character energy to move the case forward.

The Thursday Murder Club: Cast and who they’re playing

The Thursday Murder Club aligns the novel’s four leads with the film’s top-line stars. Helen Mirren plays ex-spy Elizabeth Best, Pierce Brosnan plays former labour organiser Ron Ritchie, Ben Kingsley plays ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif, and Celia Imrie plays ex-nurse Joyce Meadowcroft.

Supporting players include Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Tom Ellis, Jonathan Pryce, David Tennant, Paul Freeman, Geoff Bell, Richard E. Grant, and Ingrid Oliver. As per the Netflix Tudum report dated August 7, 2025, Chris Columbus stated,

“This is the finest cast I've worked with since Potter. They’re just so incredibly well-prepared, and it’s because they do everything. They do theater, they do television, they do film, and they’ve developed those sorts of muscles..”

The comment underscores why the clip leans on ensemble rhythm as much as plot. As per the Netflix Tudum report dated August 21, 2025, the Academy Award-winning actor Helen Mirren said,

“For once I thought, ‘I’m just going to be myself,’ ”

When explaining her route into Elizabeth, a detail consistent with the clip’s relaxed confidence in the team’s dynamic.

Plot timeline: from cold cases to a local killing

The timeline that The Thursday Murder Club establishes starts with weekly meetings in a retirement village where the group reviews old murders for mental exercise and mutual purpose. The first-look clip shows that routine at the moment a new member joins, which doubles as exposition: viewers learn who the four are by seeing how they process a 1970s cold case, how they divide tasks, and why certain skills (medical expertise, pattern recognition, field intuition) matter.

From there, the film’s official framing makes the next beat explicit: their casual sleuthing is interrupted by an unexplained death on their doorstep, and the club shifts from hobbyists to first-responders in spirit. That pivot is central to the movie’s stakes, since it brings the investigation into their immediate community, implicating neighbours and staff and turning Coopers Chase from a backdrop into a source of leads.

The clip’s details serve this timeline: Joyce’s initiation shows how The Thursday Murder Club onboards skills when cases demand them, while the “jigsaw room” fake-out signals that puzzles here are evidence boards, not leisure. In practical terms, the timeline moves from cold-case patterning to proximity-based suspicion, which is the point at which a cosy whodunit becomes a live one. As per the Netflix Tudum report dated August 21, 2025, Ben Kingsley stated,

“He’s clearly empathetic because he’s a psychiatrist and he needs to interpret patterns of human behavior,”

That is the character logic behind Ibrahim’s role once suspects and motives narrow.

Thematic cues in official materials suggest that this escalation still preserves tone. As per the Netflix Tudum report dated August 7, 2025, Chris Columbus remarked,

“There’s a wonderful mystery at its core, so mystery fans will be very happy,”

While noting the balance of humour and tension. That balance is visible at first look, which emphasises method, not spectacle, and tracks how four retirees coordinate when the killing is their own community’s problem to solve.

Release date, filmmakers, and source material

The Thursday Murder Club streams on Netflix on August 28, 2025. The film is directed by Chris Columbus, with the screenplay by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, adapted from Richard Osman’s 2020 novel of the same name and produced in partnership with Amblin. The official title page and Netflix announcement confirm the date and credits.

Stay tuned for more updates.