The return to prominence of old-fashioned murder mysteries can be traced back to the box-office success of the Murder on the Orient Expressreboot in 2017. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the star-studded movie grossed $350 million worldwide and spawned two sequels. Two years after the release of Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptation, Rian Johnson delivered his original murder mystery movie, Knives Out, which was heavily inspired by the Queen of Crime. Knives Out grossed more than $300 million worldwide as well, spawning two star-studded and critically acclaimed sequels that were released on Netflix. This new wave of murder mysteries has been even more successful on the small screen, with shows such as Only Murders in the Buildingand A Murder at the End of the Worldattracting diverse crowds. Now, a new four-part mystery has found global success on Netflix.
To be clear, murder mysteries inspired by the Christie school of whodunnit storytelling must not be confused with Nordic Noir mysteries, which have their own vibrant identity and following. The new show follows in the tradition of “peril in paradise” classics such as the Hercule Poirot mysteriesDeath on the Nile, which has been adapted several times over the years, and Evil Under the Sun. While its title may allude to a popular Sherlock Holmes story, the new Netflix series is very much in the vein of an old-fashioned Christie yarn. It follows a retired actor, beloved for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, who must investigate a murder on an island off the coast of Mallorca.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
🧢Dustin(Stranger Things)
🗼Emily(Emily in Paris)
🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday)
🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game)
01
How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
05
What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
06
You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
07
What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up
for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your
life would be like.
Stranger Things · Netflix · Since 2016
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he.
What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the
plan.
Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense,
enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous,
and they last for decades because of it.
He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously,
which is far rarer than it sounds.
You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.
Emily in Paris · Netflix · Since 2020
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she.
Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with
yourselves.
Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion,
which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy
levels.
You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when
something was happening somewhere else.
She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly,
publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very
good photo.
Wednesday · Netflix · Since 2022
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to
tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this
list.
Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for
an enormous amount.
You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally
incapable of offering you anything else.
Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a
performance out of caring.
Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
Squid Game · Netflix · 2021–2025
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is
the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who
keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long
after anybody would blame you for leaving.
He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes
back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
Your New Murder Mystery Obsession Is Here
The four-part Spanish-language thriller is titled The Final Problem, and it stars José Coronado, María Valverde, and Maribel Verdú. According to Netflix’s weekly viewership report, the series ranked fifth on the streamer’s non-English viewership chart, accumulating 2.6 million views in its debut week. It’s currently among the most-watched shows globally on Netflix, according to FlixPatrol. The Final Problem trails the controversial anthology installment Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story and the recently released literary epic East of Eden. The new series doesn’t yet have an official Rotten Tomatoes score, although every review currently listed is positive. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
