Writer & Director: Samuel Winner
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Agatha Christie x Made in Chelsea“
3 / 5
When a mysterious invite is sent out for a gathering at an isolated cottage in the middle of nowhere, most of the guests were adamant they’d decline. That is, until they saw the offer of a huge reward to one lucky attendee…
Upon arriving at the cottage the guests slowly realise they run in the same circles – Bertie (Max Young) and Anders (James Hardy) are old friends, Mary (Sofia Robbins) is Anders’ ex and Georgia (Collette O’Brien) and Bertie have an ongoing flirtation. It’s only Harriet (Sophie Ellis Roe) that isn’t as recognisable as some of the other guests. Confusion at who has gathered them there dissipates when the extravagant Matthew (Jean-Paul Mark Shlom) makes his grand entrance, announcing his intricate plot for his guests to eliminate each other until the last one standing wins a cash prize. That is until the plan goes awry, secrets are uncovered and someone else starts pulling the strings of the game.
Samuel Winner’s murder mystery is more of a parody of the genre rather than a serious thriller – think the Made in Chelsea cast x Agatha Christie, with the elitist guests and their dramatic interlinking connections with each other. There are some funny moments where they try to figure out how to escape, with a lot of the humour deriving from Young and O’Brien’s obnoxiously posh Bertie and Georgia. The pair do a fantastic job of comedic melodrama, allowing them to fully ham up the typical murder mystery genre characters in the form of the rich tycoon and the glamorous gold-digger. Their interactions are silly and enjoyable, big performances that really elevate the storyline.
The script itself starts out intriguing, but loses it’s footing midway through. The premise of having the characters decide who dies every 10 minutes means that the format becomes slightly too predictable – someone dies, a big discussion is had revealing various ‘AHA!’ moments, rinse and repeat. Although the reveals are still quite extravagant – there are too many that are too ridiculous for a succinct storyline, and not many that are comedic enough for it to fully embody a parody, so it ends up in a enjoyable, but safe, and slightly repetitive grey area.
A good premise that only needs a little polishing – the over the top, low-budget, humorous silliness (such as Robbin’s bum CPR or Shlom reacting when supposedly dead) is where this show is at it’s best!
Runs until 6th August 2025
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