Recensione di Only Murders in the Building

You know those detective novels that we usually read during a boring train ride or under an umbrella? Those thrillers in which there is no classic chase or the first round of shooting? What English speakers define “whodunit”, The classic yellow Agatha Christie in layman’s terms.

If you are passionate about this genre, we at Movie Blogwe advise you to open Disney+ and start watching “Only Murders in The Building”, Which arrived in its second season with an episode every Tuesday until August 2022.

Not convinced? Then we up the ante shouting loudly that we have the comic genius of at the helm Steve Martin flanked by the inevitable Martin Shortpioneers of family comedies, and the fabulous female presence of Selena Gomez. Come on, not clicking on “play” is practically impossible!

Oliver (Martin Short), Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), live in a luxurious condominium of theUpper West Side“l’Arconia”, The typical condominium swarming with roommates with the stench under their noses. When young Tim Kono (Julian Cihi), is found dead in his room, however, the quiet (apparently) harmony that animates the building is broken, overwhelmed by terror, deception and suspicion. The case is hastily dismissed as suicide, but our trio of A-list actors, passionate about podcast true crime they don’t get duped by the FBI. So they start investigating Tim Kono’s death, documenting it all in their podcast “Only Murders in the Building”.

Thus begins the comic thriller, with features of noir, in which nothing is as it seems, in which a cat and a psychedelic sweatshirt will be the protagonists of many hilarious scenes.

Only Murders in the Building: yellow but not too much

Only Murders in the Building has a single purpose, to entertain the viewer by playing the detective, making him immerse in a plot managed brilliantly and never predictable, given the setting of the series, completely succeeding in his intent. If we only think about how the tenants of the condominium, one more unbalanced than the other, are described and deepened as the series goes on, so much so that the viewer cannot help but watch the next episode, it goes without saying that the set goal is easily achieved.

A great advantage of this little gem is clarity. From the beginning we understand the intent, the parodic one. A deconstruction of yellow in all its archetypes built with intelligence, thanks also to the skill of the exceptional cast. A product that never contradicts itself by continuing with a second season even better than the previous one (which is absolutely not to be taken for granted) that always maintains the original line, perhaps a little chaotic at the beginning, but which then finds its own direction, thanks also to the presence from Cara Delevingne. One flaw in this case when Alice’s storyline (Cara Delevingne) intertwines with Selena’s, bringing the stereotype to the brink of forcing.

The influences of films such as “Knives-Out – Dinner with a crime” from Ryan Johnson, as none of the fundamental elements for the success of such a product are missing. We have, in fact, the main suspect too obvious to be the killer, a series of red herrings, one more bizarre than the other that constantly lead to a dead end and a laugh, a quarrel that separates the team, the too hasty closure of the case and the final cliffhanger. Despite this, despite the influences and predictability, “Only Murders in the Building”Not boring at all, thanks to a fast pace marked by Oliver’s recordings (Martin Short) for your own podcast. As a true Broadway director, he records every event or word regarding the case, so as not to miss any piece that could prove important to the resolution, giving hilarious gags every time. It is also thanks to him that the plot manages to shine with a deliberate staging metacinematografica in different aspects, such as the staging of a play to identify the suspect or Oliver’s own corrections aimed more at the script of the series.

Ultimately, Only Murders in the Building is a pleasant surprise that has been keeping us company since 2021. The only problem is that it is one of those series that we can see in a single day, with 10 episodes of about thirty minutes each: it arrives and immediately leaves us with bated breath waiting for the next season.

The second season is about to end and the third has already been confirmed. Will the latter be able to surprise us like the previous ones? In the meantime, if you haven’t seen it yet, run to retrieve it on Disney +