Only Murders in the Building, review: the two amigos reunite for this delightful trifle
Despite clocking up 116 million subscribers in under two years, Disney+ continues to struggle with the perception it’s just for kids. But now the service’s adults-oriented Star “channel” may have potentially and belatedly struck upon its first break-out hit with the Steve Martin-Martin Short screwball mystery Only Murders in the Building.
A mixture of pre-cancelled Woody Allen and old-school whodunit, the series surfs on the super-charged chemistry that crackles between its veteran leads. As a bonus Only Murders in the Building serves up a wry critique of the true crime industry – a huge source of clicks for Disney +’s mortal foe, Netflix.
Martin and Short play ageing showbiz luvvies seeing out their days in genteel decrepitude in a fancy New York apartment block. When another resident dies in suspicious circumstances, they are compelled to solve the murder and are soon in cahoots with an eye-rolling Gen Z-er portrayed with whipsmart charm by former Disney teen star, Selena Gomez.
With an eye on rescuing their moribund careers, they decide to turn their investigation into their own true crime podcast. There is just one rule: their inquiries will be confined to crimes that occur within the Arconia – i.e. only murders in the building.
Martin co-created Only Murders in the Building with John Hoffman and it’s remarkable how much they’ve squeezed in. Upper West Side Manhattan is lovingly evoked, down to opening credits that resemble a New Yorker magazine cover. It’s like watching a pitch perfect mash-up of Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery and Wes Anderson’s Royal Tenenbaums.
But the series, originally commission for Disney’s Hulu streaming service in the US, is also a moving rumination on growing old and becoming forgotten. Both theatre producer Oliver Putnam (Short) and former TV actor Charles Hayden-Savage (Martin) are well on their way to obscurity. Oliver is broke, to boot, and can only afford his swanky apartment with financial assistance from his exasperated son.
There’s a genuine mystery woven in too. None of the three leads are quite what they seem. That’s especially true of Gomez’s Mabel, who knows more about the death than she lets on.
Only Murders in the Building is a trifle. Each episode is a mere 30 minutes or so and largely given over to scenes in which Martin and Short bounce off one another. But it’s a bonbon that goes down a treat and is packed with sugar-spun cameos –including Tina Fey as a podcast host, Nathan Lane as a chicken mogul and Sting as himself. And it will surprise and delight those who think Disney + exists only to feed the world’s hunger for Frozen singalongs and Marvel binges.