What is the secret to writing a good thriller, with a memorable villain? Entering the killer’s mind, according to A Talent for Murder, the new film by Anton Corbijn, a thriller in which the American writer Patricia Highsmith, creator of many memorable crime and noir novels, many of which have been adapted for cinema and television (including the famous Ripley stories), is portrayed here by the splendid actress Dame Helen Mirren. Beside her, two colleagues we would like to see more often: Alden Ehrenreich and Olivia Cooke. Regarding the film, whose Italian release is set for November 26 and which will have its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, the trailer has just been released. As you will see, a portion of the story is set and shot in Rome.
A Talent for Murder: The film’s plot
As you may have guessed from the trailer, the story of A Talent for Murder follows the arrival of a ruthlessly ambitious young New York literary agent at the home of the elderly writer Patricia Highsmith in Switzerland, where she lives. The aim is to persuade her to write one last book dedicated to Ripley. What the man cannot imagine is that (and how) he will be drawn into the very story for which she asks his collaboration, a collaboration that could prove costly for him. The screenplay is the work of Joanna Murray-Smith and it is, of course, pure fiction, even if it seems decidedly enticing for all fans of Highsmith’s novels and thrillers in general.
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