R | 1h 45m | Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime | 2026
Novelist Patricia Highsmith wrote relatively few books (22). But adaptations of those works on film, TV, stage, and radio exceed 35, some of them more than once. These include “Strangers on a Train,” “The Blunderer,” “Deep Water,” and “The Price of Salt” a.k.a. “Carol.”
That’s impressive, to be sure, but no Highsmith creation has been reinterpreted more than the books featuring lead character Tom Ripley. To date, nine adaptations have been made of the five “Ripley” books. However, Ripley eventually took its toll on Highsmith.
While it made her very wealthy, Ripley became her albatross, much like a filmmaker or recording artist known mostly for their most popular creation who can’t emerge from the shadow it has created. The best-known of these is “The Talented Mr. Ripley” from 1999 starring Matt Damon.
All But in Name
Director Anton Corbijn’s brilliant new movie “A Talent for Murder” is another Ripley adaptation in all but name. Written by Joanna Murray-Smith, it’s based on her stage play “Switzerland.”
The film is a fascinating “what if” scenario of Highsmith (Helen Mirren in peak form) being approached by book editor Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich, “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Oppenheimer,” “Weapons”).
“A Talent for Murder” is less a “destination” movie and more a “journey” type. What’s the phrase? Getting there is more than half of the fun? Here, it is all of the fun. For a crime thriller especially, this is not desired and is actually forboden. But somehow, Corbijn and Murray-Smith make it work.
The story opens in the mid-1990s with Ridgeway arriving at Highsmith’s remote Swiss home. He comes with the express purpose of getting her to sign a contract and write a sixth Ripley novel. True to her reputation, Highsmith is an irascible, cantankerous, and combative woman who admittedly doesn’t like people.
Towering Ego
A second publishing company editor is sent to try to sway her. Ridgeway doesn’t cower in her presence. Instead, he appeals to her greatest weakness: her towering ego. He professes to know more about her work than anyone and proves it via a test she administers.
Instead of merely jettisoning him out of hand, this impresses her to such a degree that she allows him to stay the night and possibly move forward the next day. What develops then gives the plot all of its punch. Highsmith decides to challenge Ridgeway by bouncing ideas back and forth to come up with a starting point for a new Ripley murder mystery.
Earlier the previous day, Ridgeway identifies Ripley’s latest target in the form of Clementine Harriet Balfour (Olivia Cooke, “Slow Horses,” “Sound of Metal”). She’s an American heiress visiting her great- aunt Peggy (Juliet Stevenson).
Ridgeway met Clementine on a train traveling to Zurich. At some point, the subject of Highsmith’s 1950 debut novel, “Strangers on a Train,” made into a feature the next year and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, comes up. Highsmith is hooked.
The Ultimate Carrot
The pair work through the first two “acts.” Highsmith then offers Ridgeway the ultimate carrot: Come up with the method of murder for the final murder, and she will sign his contract.
This is the point in the movie where the real and the imagined begin to blur. Ridgeway starts showing up in dream sequences as Ripley. It’s never made clear whether he’s merely conjuring material or living out his own Highsmith-influenced fantasies.
The first clue things are askew is when Ridgeway identifies Ripley as the “greatest protagonist of the 20th century,” which is as far from a proper definition as one can get. At best, Ripley is a malevolent anti-hero. His personality is closely akin to that of Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs” and its offshoots.
Safer by Comparison
Lecter had the advantage of sharing screen time with guys who were even worse than him which made him safer by comparison. But this is not the case for Ripley. He’s a stone-cold killer without any moral compass or concept of empathy.
Some have voiced confusion regarding the ending of the movie. But for me, it fit in perfectly with everything that preceded it. The filmmakers included no red herrings or deep fakes and adhered to the rest of the plot.
Not understanding an ending and not agreeing with it are two different animals, and I can understand how some subscribe to the former. I feel the ending was brilliant and breaks new narrative ground.
“A Talent for Murder” is now playing in theaters.
‘A Talent For Murder’
Director: Anton Corbijn
Stars: Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke, Juliet Stevenson
Running Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: Oct. 23, 2026
Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
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