TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! A Talent for Murder is an exceptional film directed by Anton Corbijn, bringing together prodigious talents to do something unique. It is written by Joanna Murray-Smith, adapted from her 2014 play Swizerland, but it is effectively an unofficial sequel to 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Helen Mirren plays a highly fictionalized, potentially murderous version of Patricia Highsmith, the real-life author who wrote 5 books in a series featuring Tom Ripley, a character who is not shy about using elaborate deception and murder to climb the social ladder. Her publisher sends the young and eager Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich) to Highsmith’s house in Switzerland to try to convince her to write a sixth book in the series. He’s got his work cut out for him — Highsmith is a hermit and a misanthrope, thinks he’s an idiot, and the previous publisher’s representative sent to do this was never heard from again. On the train to Switzerland, Ridgeway meets Clementine Balfour (Olivia Cooke), a 20-something potential heiress who is trying to convince her aunt to let her gain control of her trust fund. As Highsmith and Ridgeway start to discuss potential plots, reality starts to merge with fiction — Ridgeway starts to take on the persona of Ripley, and Balfour becomes a novel character too.
“Highsmith is a hermit and a misanthrope, thinks he’s an idiot, and the previous publisher’s representative sent to do this was never heard from again.”
Many will be most familiar with Anton Corbijn from his iconic photography work (e.g. U2’s The Joshua Tree, Depeche Mode’s Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion), and his music video direction for such bands as Depeche Mode, U2, The Killers, Coldplay, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Metallica, and too many others to name. But of course he’s also an amazing feature film director — I think about his haunting 2007 film Control, about Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, all the time. Corbijn obviously has an amazing eye for composition and lighting, but he also knows how to find and magnify the essence of a character, whether it is through still images, film shots, or editing. Here his direction isn’t flashy, but it sets a mood and a tension that serves the characters and drives the film.
It is no surprise that Helen Mirren, one of the best actors alive, is electrifying as this mirror-universe Patricia Highsmith, as cranked up and demented as one of her own characters. A bigger surprise to me was Alden Ehrenreich. It isn’t his fault that Solo: A Star Wars Story left a bad taste in my mouth — that film was fraught with a last-minute director change, and of course the flawed idea that anyone could step into the shoes of Harrison Ford. Here, Ehrenreich shows a remarkable transformation in his main character, from a seemingly eager and guileless striver to a confident, bold, and potentially dangerous master of his own fate. Meanwhile, he portrays a different character in the story-within-a-story, effectively Ripley. Now instead of stepping into Harrison Ford’s shoes, he’s filling Matt Damon’s, and it turns out that brand of innocent-meets-dangerous he’s entirely suited for. Olivia Cook has much less to do, but she does as much as she can with her two characters on either side of the story-within-a-story, who aren’t very differentiated.
“Ehrenreich shows a remarkable transformation in his main character, from a seemingly eager and guileless striver, to a confident, bold, and potentially dangerous master of his own fate.”
A Talent for Murder is just restrained enough to seem within the realm of plausibility, and just audacious enough to be a delicious murder tale. It is a bold move to blur the lines between the story and the story-within-a-story — this is like catnip for writers, but it rarely succeeds in cinema. It can seem too cheesy or contrived if it is too telegraphed, or too confusing if it isn’t. Here Corbijn walks the tightrope perfectly — this is a film that is clearly stylized but somehow simultaneously seems grounded enough to work.
A Talent for Murder plays on two levels. On one, it is an unofficial sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is no small thing. But it also goes one level deeper, and tries to explore why we like murderous tales of deception, and whether or not we all have that capacity within ourselves. I’ve never seen anything quite like a film that explores another work while trying to examine its creator in a wholly fictionalized way. The result feels like something entirely of the genre but also fresh. With the direction, writing, cast, and subject matter, A Talent for Murder is a splendid work of art.
A Talent for Murder screened at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.
"…It is no surprise that Helen Mirren, one of the best actors alive, is electrifying as this mirror-universe Patricia Highsmith, as cranked up and demented as one of her own characters."
