Hulu’s 7-Part Psychological Thriller Is Perfect To Binge This Weekend

November 2023 saw the debut of A Murder at the End of the World, starring Emma Corrin as amateur detective and true crime writer Darby Hart. When the series begins, Darby is invited to a mysterious billionaire’s private retreat at a remote hotel in Iceland. What begins as a thrilling opportunity, however, soon turns unexpectedly deadly. The OA creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij craft a shocking yet oddly intimate modern take on the traditional murder mystery, making A Murder at the End of the World the perfect weekend binge.

What Is ‘A Murder at the End of the World’ About?

Shortly after the publication of her first book, Darby is invited to a retreat hosted by tech billionaire Andy Ronson (Clive Owen). She’s joined by a diverse group of celebrities, artists, activists, and inventors, including city architect Lu Mei (Joan Chen), doctor Sian Cruz (Alice Braga), and filmmaker Martin Mitchell (Jermaine Fowler). Ronson’s retreat aims to bring this eclectic collective of original thinkers together to find solutions to the climate crisis. Also at the retreat is Ronson’s wife, the once-famous hacker and Darby’s personal idol, Lee Andersen (Marling), and their young son, Zoomer (Kellan Tetlow). Darby’s ex-boyfriend, Bill Farrah (Harris Dickinson), even joins the retreat later on for vague reasons. However, Darby’s luxurious getaway quickly becomes a nightmare when someone in the group is murdered, and it’s up to this amateur sleuth to figure out why before the killer can strike again.

The series’ cast is fantastic, made up of interesting, well-rounded characters that modernize the classic whodunit. Owen plays Ronson with intriguing charisma and cunning aloofness, somewhere between Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. Meanwhile, Corrin brings both an extraordinary relatability and distinctive punk-rock energy to their performance, creating a compelling Gen Z update for the classic detective protagonist.

‘A Murder at the End of the World’ Takes Place in a Chilling Setting

A huge part of what makes A Murder at the End of the World so exciting is the show’s primary setting, with the title itself referring to Ronson’s remote hotel in Iceland. Its eerily secluded location, far from civilization, makes it the perfect setting for a murder mystery, and the state-of-the-art fortress also houses Ronson’s new digital AI assistant, Ray (Edoardo Ballerini). The high-tech environment highlights how the more intimate sense of humanity gets lost amid new and improved digital comforts.

Early in the retreat, Ronson expresses his hope of solving the climate crisis while there is still time, estimating that catastrophic events will occur by 2050 — and giving dual meaning to the show’s title. The hotel comes to represent a type of sanctuary, which takes on a much more ominous definition after a murder occurs within its walls. While the series’ setting is awe-inspiring, lavish, and futuristic, it’s also hiding dark secrets of its own, making it the perfect location to solve a mystery.

‘A Murder at the End of the World’ Utilizes an Intriguing Dual Narrative

Image via FX

A Murder at the End of the World‘s primary mystery unfolds in its present timeline, but Marling and Batmanglij opt for a twisty dual narrative with flashbacks to a previous case, which Darby eventually writes about in her first book, The Silver Doe. The flashback scenes also provide more context for Darby and Bill’s relationship, which often shares surprising parallels to the present-day mystery. At times, Darby’s “Silver Doe” case is just as, if not more, exciting than the investigation unfolding in Iceland.

Each episode of A Murder at the End of the World nicely escalates the tension and suspense, with a shocking reveal in the final act. Thanks to its format, the characters and their various subplots have more room to breathe than a typical murder mystery movie. As a result, Marling and Batmanglij’s series is more reminiscent of a complex novel with long chapters rather than a summary of the main bullet points, making the expertly crafted 7-part psychological thriller the perfect weekend binge.