Joan Collins is back on your screens as the newest crime sleuth, Francesca Carlyle, in co-directors Trent Garrett and Jacob Young’s murder mystery, A Murder Between Friends, from a screenplay by Mark Rozzano. Three couples and longtime friends go on a European mansion getaway. The mansion is owned by Francesca, a family investigative journalist known worldwide for her murder-investigation show. This doesn’t sound good.
The group includes the longtime married couple Josh (Jacob Young) and Kat (Nadia Bjorlin), the newlyweds Devin and Sonia (India Thain), and the newest couple — and soon-to-be engaged — Sydney (Toby-Alexander Smith) and Louisa (Hana Vagnerová). As the weekend starts, the friends are cordial, but by night, the niceties wane ever so slightly, especially after a quick glance between Devin and Sydney. Just before the tension can truly build, the three couples turn in for the night. In the morning, Sydney and Louisa are missing. When Sydney returns from a walk, a search begins for Louisa with the help of Francesca, and it’s soon discovered that Louisa has been murdered by being drowned in the hot tub. Which one of the remaining five did it? The motives and alibis for everyone are unclear, yet as they say, no one can leave the mansion or the city until the murder is solved.
“…it’s soon discovered that Louisa has been murdered by being drowned in the hot tub.”
A Murder Between Friends marks the return of Joan Collins as the heir apparent to Angela Lansbury’s Murder, She Wrote. Collins serves more as the host of the murder-mystery weekend, tasked with dispensing game-changing revelations throughout the film, such as that Louisa was worth $3 million and left it all to Sydney without his knowledge. There’s also the love affair between Sydney and Devin that Josh stumbles upon. Things are not looking good for Sydney.
I find that murder mysteries go in one of two directions. The first is making it an actual murder mystery, where the killer is revealed at the end, and it’s up to you to find the clues along the way as you see what only Francesca sees. The story takes a different path; the story unfolds with all the characters, whether or not Francesca is there. One huge revelation is dropped after another, followed by massive plot twists, including Kat (Josh’s wife) being murdered in a car accident. Then there’s the even juicier twist.
A Murder Between Friends also reminds me of The Love Boat or Fantasy Island. Actors from soap operas and indie films comprise most of the cast, and they give solid performances for a caper made specifically for television. This is a mystery, rather than the horror or thriller that Hollywood likes to throw our way. Collins may be a bit older since her Dynasty days, but she’s still got spunk, and if this series continues, it really needs her to be much nosier about the affairs of her suspects. Her role is to push characters into a corner by poking holes in their motives and alibis.
A Murder Between Friends makes for a fun night of low-stakes sleuthing, and it’s great to have Joan Collins back. It is a simple mystery playing on our greed and our appetite for spicy relationships at the same time.
"…makes for a fun night of low-stakes sleuthing, and it’s great to have Joan Collins back."
