A Murder at the End of the World just dropped on Hulu overnight, and this series is a major win for the streaming service already. Critics and fans alike have rated it highly on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences giving it an impressive 92%. After watching it myself, I wholeheartedly agree.
This Hulu original miniseries developed by FX stars Emma Corrin as Darby Hart, an intelligent crime solver who investigates cold cases and missing persons to bring justice to the victims. She’s now been invited to a retreat by tech mogul Andy Ronson (Clive Owen), and both she and the other guests are surprised, though the thinking is that she’s been invited by Andy’s wife Lee Andersen (Brit Marling), who happens to be Darby’s hero.
However, we know something sinister is coming. After all, the show is called A Murder at the End of the World, and not The Interesting Tech Summit at the End of the World. I’ll get into some very small spoilers going forward, so turn around now if you want to go into the first episode blind.
With that said, here’s why A Murder at the End of the World is the streaming TV show you need to be watching right now.
A Murder at the End of the World has horror and humor
The majority of the beginning of the first episode is fairly dark in tone. A Murder at the End of the World seems to be set around two separate stories — the present where the murder is expected to happen and the past where Darby solves her first cold case.
Both storylines have plenty of thriller and horror elements, but the story of Darby solving her first case in the past is heavy on horror. The scenes would not feel out of place in a traditional horror film.
Still, the show also gets light-hearted at times. It’s not uproarious laugh-inducing moments like in the more comedically-leaning Knives Out series of whodunit films, but you’ll find yourself giving a wry smirk or a chuckle or two at times. Not all is dark at the edge of the Earth.
Hulu hints at our tech dystopia in this whodunit
I know I just said not all is dark at the edge of the Earth, but A Murder at the End of the World sure feels like it’s a partial commentary of an impending tech dystopia. Owen’s tech billionaire Ronson is portrayed as one of if not the most powerful people in the world, which is dystopian in its own right. But it’s also pretty relatable given the world we currently live in.
The commentary goes beyond that. There’s an AI assistant that is being tested at the retreat, smart glasses in the hotel room and even a kid named Zoomer — which, admittedly, got a pretty strenuous eye-roll from me. There are even deep fakes of one of the guests that the guests share around dinner, though at least the guest in question is in the conversation rather than it being behind their back.
Stream the first two episodes of A Murder of the End of the World now — don’t stop with just one
If you’re a fan of whodunits like Knives Out or Murder on the Orient Express, A Murder at the End of the World is a no-brainer to start streaming now. I found a lot of similarities between Darby and Knives Out’s Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig), particularly in comparison to Blanc’s role in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. I’d be shocked if Ronson didn’t invite her expecting doom to befall his retreat at the remote Icelandic hotel.
A Murder at the End of the World drops Tuesdays on Hulu at 12:01 a.m. ET. Episodes 1-2 are available to stream now.
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But the show also does a great job of keeping you entertained and engaged. And while there are some horror and thriller elements, this wouldn’t even come close to the horror of a show like The Fall of the House of Usher, so no need to worry if you’re squeamish. So it’s something I’d recommend to anyone. After just one episode I had to stop myself from watching the second immediately.
Yes, that’s right. You can stream the first two episodes of A Murder at the End of the World right now on Hulu. Future episodes will roll out weekly, but for the show’s debut, you get a double feature. I thought this was a great call by the showrunners, and after watching, I think you’ll agree. I also think you’ll hit play next the second the credits roll.
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