Slow Horses Star's New Crime Thriller Debuts To Stellar Rotten Tomatoes Score

Published Oct 6, 2026, 4:58 PM EDT Jeff Dodge (he/him), a published author and graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena. Fun Fact: he’s been to every single Idol Live! Tour. One of the stars of Apple TV's Slow Horses has a brand-new crime thriller called A Talent for Murder, and it already has an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score ahead of its theatrical release. The film stars Alden Ehrenreich as Edward Ridgeway, a literary agent who attempts to get bestselling author Patricia Highsmith, played by Helen Mirren, to write another novel in her acclaimed book series. Olivia Cooke and Juliet Stevenson also appear in A Talent for Murder, which was directed by Anton Corbijn from a screenplay by Joanna Murray-Smith. With less than three weeks until its theatrical release, A Talent for Murder debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 85%. Early reviews called it fun, fresh, thrilling, darkly funny, and a solid mystery. The cast's performances have also been praised, particularly Mirren and Ehrenreich's, whose on-screen chemistry is a standout of the film. A handful of critics didn't care for the crime thriller, though, with some calling it forgettable, tiring, and unimaginative. Screen Rant's George Bate reviewed A Talent for Murder, saying it lacks thrills but is otherwise a "mind-bending watch." The film adapts Murray-Smith's play Switzerland. Mirren first joined the cast in 2023, and filming took place in 2025. Mickey Middell, Pete Shilaimon, Jim Robison, Kurt Martin, Gabrielle Tana, Troy Lum, Andrew Mason, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Karl Spoerri and Andrea Occhipinti produced A Talent for Murder. The thriller had its world premiere at last month's Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Gala presentation, alongside other movies like All About Corinne, Bunker, It's My Time, Misty Green, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, Tenzing and Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend. Before this, Mirren had numerous acting credits, including roles in movies like The Queen and Gosford Park, and the TV shows 1923 and MobLand. Ehrenreich is best known for playing a younger version of Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story and also appeared in Oppenheimer and Ironheart, while Stevenson has been in Bend It Like Beckham, Mona Lisa Smile, and Being Julia. Meanwhile, Cooke stars as Alicent Hightower on the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon and can currently be seen in Slow Horses season 6, which will release its finale episode on October 21. Just two days later, Cooke will be back on the big screen in A Talent for Murder, her first feature-length project since 2023's The Good Mother. Her other film roles include Ouija, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Ready Player One, and Life Itself. A Talent for Murder will be released in theaters on Friday, October 23, 2026. Release Date October 23, 2026 Director Anton Corbijn Writers Joanna Murray-Smith Producers Andrea Occhipinti, Andrew Mason, Gabrielle Tana, Jim Robison, Karl Spoerri, Kurt Martin, Luke Randolph, Troy Lum Cast A Talent for Murder is a 2026 psychological thriller starring Helen Mirren as crime novelist Patricia Highsmith. When young literary agent Edward Ridgeway arrives at her secluded Swiss home to persuade her to write one final Tom Ripley novel, their tense encounter develops into a sinister battle of wits in which fiction and reality become increasingly difficult to separate. Executive Producer(s) Chris Chard, Marc Furmie, Michael Glassman, Phil Hunt