Academy Award winner Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich (Weapons) go head-to-head in a tense new psychological thriller from acclaimed director Anton Corbijn, best known for Control. The film arrives in theatres on October 23.
Set around an unsettling encounter between a young literary agent and legendary author Patricia Highsmith, the film promises a dark, intimate confrontation where the boundaries between admiration, manipulation and obsession begin to blur.
Plot
A youthful literary agent finds himself drawn into an increasingly strange and uncomfortable relationship with Patricia Highsmith, the celebrated author behind The Talented Mr. Ripley.
What initially appears to be a professional meeting gradually develops into something far more unpredictable. Highsmith’s formidable personality and complicated worldview place the young agent in unfamiliar territory, as their encounter becomes a psychological battle filled with tension, uncertainty and shifting power dynamics.
Rather than relying on a large-scale setting, the film builds its suspense around the personalities of its central characters, creating an intense chamber thriller where every conversation carries the possibility of a new revelation.
Helen Mirren as Patricia Highsmith
Helen Mirren takes on the role of Patricia Highsmith, bringing one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures in 20th-century crime literature to the screen.
Highsmith was renowned for her psychologically complex characters and morally ambiguous storytelling, particularly through works such as The Talented Mr. Ripley. Her writing frequently explored obsession, identity and the darker impulses hidden beneath ordinary lives, making her an intriguing figure at the center of a psychological thriller.
A Talent for Murder
- Director: Anton Corbijn
- Starring: Olivia Cooke, Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Juliet Stevenson, James Faulkner, Brid Brennan, Maddalena Vallecchi Williams, Nikolai Selikovsky
- Genre: Drama, Crime
Alden Ehrenreich
Alden Ehrenreich stars opposite Mirren as the young literary agent whose encounter with Highsmith becomes increasingly complicated.
The contrast between the youthful agent and the established author creates the foundation for the film’s central conflict, with the two characters seemingly engaged in a battle of personalities and intellect.
Cast
- Helen Mirren as Patricia Highsmith
- Alden Ehrenreich as Edward Ridgeway
- Olivia Cooke as Clementine Balfour
Director – Anton Corbijn
The film is directed by Anton Corbijn, the filmmaker and photographer behind the acclaimed biographical drama Control.
Corbijn’s experience creating atmospheric, character-driven stories makes him a natural fit for this type of intimate thriller. With the majority of the tension centered around its characters, performances and dialogue, the film looks set to favor psychological suspense over conventional action.
Screenplay
The screenplay comes from Joanna Murray-Smith, whose script places the relationship between the two central characters at the heart of the story.
With a celebrated author, an ambitious young literary professional and a potentially dangerous psychological game at its center, the screenplay promises plenty of dramatic tension.
Release Date
In Theatres: October 23, 2026
