The title of FX’s ambitious but frustrating new mystery series, “A Murder at the End of the World” has a very intended dual meaning. On the one hand, it takes place in an extremely remote location—an ice-covered hotel that is quite literally at the physical end of the world. However, it feels like creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij are also using their title in a chronological sense, weaving climate change concerns and A.I./tech conversation into their story in a way that implies that we may be at the end of the world as we know it all over the planet.
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This 7-part series is undeniably ambitious in the unique manner in which it tackles “end of the world” concerns, but it sags narratively far too often, content to spin its wheels instead of filling out a potentially fascinating cast of characters. A set-up that should lead to echoes of Agatha Christie (or at least “Knives Out”), fails to produce the required tension for a show like this to work, stretching what feels like a solid feature film script into 7 over-long episodes (often running over 60 minutes without commercials). While “A Murder at the End of the World” never completely falls apart, it’s a show that also never completely comes together, despite the engaging performance from its charismatic lead performer.
That categorically interesting lead is the excellent Emma Corrin (“The Crown”) as Darby Hart, an amateur detective and novelist who is really seen in two parallel arcs over the run of “A Murder at the End of the World.” Hart is a tech-savvy genius, someone whose background and interests have formed her into a perfect detective. Corrin nails Darby’s blend of fascination and suspicion at two key points in her life, the formation of a relationship with a man named Bill Farrah (a very good Harris Dickinson) while the two investigate a potential serial killer, and a reunion with Bill years later at an unusual retreat orchestrated by a tech billionaire named Andy Ronson (Clive Owen) that ends up including multiple murders. Corrin’s performance is easily the best thing about “A Murder at the End of the World,” the potential introduction of a character who could easily return and anchor another mystery that worked out the flaws of this one.
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Darby and Bill are invited by Andy to what is basically a tech retreat to discuss the technology that’s about to shape the fate of mankind from A.I. that can anticipate our every need to machines that can take the place of human workers. From the beginning of “A Murder at the End of the World,” once-unimaginable tech is centered in the storytelling, starting with an assistant A.I. named Ray (Edoardo Ballerini), who can be seen in human form through Augmented Reality and serves as a sort of sidekick to Darby at times. Imagine if Sherlock Holmes’ Watson was an Alexa. It’s one of many clever ideas in “A Murder at the End of the World” that feels slightly underdeveloped, as if Marling and Batmanglij were hesitant to really lean into the potential genre thrills of their concept, more passionate about repetitive conversations about the end of the world than the good times usually associated with murder mysteries in locations cut-off from the authorities.
One of their biggest problems is that they failed to sketch out the supporting players in a way that makes anyone (except maybe Bill) nearly as interesting as Darby. Owen has some fun as an unpredictable billionaire, but he’s not given nearly enough screen time—at least in the first five episodes that critics are allowed to review—but the ensemble of “A Murder at the End of the World” is filled out with performers that feel like they haven’t been given enough to do. Joan Chen, Alice Braga, Jermaine Fowler, Raul Esparza, and Marling herself are all capable of bringing more than these scripts give them a chance to do, often coming off as people who have no agency or back story until they have to play a role in Darby’s investigation. A great Christie-esque mystery requires a crew of memorable characters, and too few stand out here, becoming half-hearted murder mystery plot devices instead of people.
The writing is arguably better in the flashbacks to the investigation that first connected Darby and Bill. As they cross the country, trying to connect the clues to find a serial killer, they fall in love, allowing Corrin and Dickinson some detailed character work. They’re both great young performers who can do a lot with a tentative glance or awkward exchange, and they have undeniable chemistry.
It’s worth noting in an era of so many streaming shows looking similarly flat, “A Murder at the End of the World” often looks great with Marling and Batmanglij, who also alternate directing duties, getting a lot of mileage out of the variation between their two arcs. The flashbacks have a sweaty, hot, dusty palette while the present-day material exists in a cold world of sharp lines that enhances the sense of isolation and lack of human touch.
There’s every chance that “A Murder at the End of the World” really sticks the landing—FX was insistent that all reviews are only based on the first five episodes—but it will still feel like a show that doesn’t quite live up to its talented cast or thematic potential. With the success of films like Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot series and the Benoit Blanc flicks by Rian Johnson, it’s about time pop culture had a younger, non-male crime-solver too. After all, it’s Darby Hart’s generation that might save us from the end of the world. [C+]
“A Murder at the End of the World” debuts on Hulu on November 14.