Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Murder Mystery 2’ is a comedy mystery film that follows the amateur detective couple, Audrey and Nick Spitz, solving another high-profile crime. The sequel to 2019’s ‘Murder Mystery’ starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, the movie begins with Nick and Audrey stuck in a rut, looking for a case that could revive their career as private investigators. They get invited to Vikram’s wedding, the Maharaja they met in the previous film. They are flown to a private island to attend the ceremony. However, things take a turn when Vik is kidnapped.
Directed by Jeremy Garelick, the movie packs many twists and turns to keep the audience on edge. Its blend of comedy and mystery makes it entertaining, and Nick and Audrey present a realistic couple who rely on their wit to survive a seemingly impossible situation. This might make you wonder if the movie is based on a real situation or if it is adapted from a novel. Let’s find out.
Murder Mystery 2 is a Fictional Story
No, ‘Murder Mystery 2’ is based neither on a true story nor a book. It is an original screenplay by James Vanderbilt, who was inspired to write such a story during a conversation “about these types of movies and why they can’t make them anymore.” They noted that the genre of stories like Agatha Christie’s or detectives like Inspector Clouseau was not being made as much anymore. Vanderbilt wanted to write something along those lines, but he also wanted it to be relevant to contemporary times. “My way in was what if an American Couple from New York City crashes into an Agatha Christie story and finds themselves inside one,” he said.
Other than Christie, the writer cited ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘The Thin Man’ as “the key influencers to shape the story.” Speaking about the latter’s influence on ‘Murder Mystery,’ Vanderbilt said: “I loved the idea of a married couple sipping cocktails and solving crimes.” There are a few parallels between the two films like the protagonists are a married couple with a husband named Nick. While Spitz was a police officer, Charles was a private detective before they started solving cases with their wives.
Vanderbilt revealed that Nick and Audrey’s love story was central to the story. “I really wanted to make a movie that being married was a wonderful thing. It’s possible for a couple to be married for a long time, still love each other, be better together, and more the sum of their parts than they are apart.” For the murder part, the story was structured like a Christie mystery, sharing some elements which are now considered classic tropes in a murder mystery.
For the sequel, the couple finds themselves in different waters. Director Jeremy Garelick wanted the follow-up to be standalone while upping the ante from the previous one. “There’s definitely a lot more action in this second [movie]. I tried really hard to create something that started from scratch in terms of taking a genre and a tone that existed in [Murder Mystery], but bending the rules,” he said. The director called it “a massive endeavor,” saying that they “wanted to go bigger” in terms of sets and locations, making it a character in the movie.
Garelick also wanted it to be interactive in some ways for the audience, to keep them engaged with the story and solve it with the characters. “I love being able to play along. If, at the end of the day, I can actually figure it out and solve it along with our main characters, it feels like we were on a journey together,” the director added. It was important to keep things grand and yet, somehow, grounded to make the audience feel like they were in that world solving that crime. Nick and Audrey’s relationship as a relatable couple with their everyday problems and big dreams also brings it closer to reality. With all this in mind, we can say that ‘Murder Mystery 2’ has some elements the audience can relate to. But overall, it remains a fictional tale nodding to classic detective stories and characters that have inspired it.
