The ABC Murderers 2018 – On An Adaption of Agatha Christie’s Popular Book

The ABC Murderers is a series based on an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s popular book published in 1936. It is a BBC One mystery-thriller television series released on 26th December 2018. The movie starring John Malkovich, Rupert Grint, Andrew Buchan, Eamon Farren, and Jack Farthing is about a retired detective Hercule Poirot targeted by a taunting killer who sends letters signed.

Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murderers Tv Mini-Series 

“ABC” needs to be decoded by Poirot to discover the identity of the murderer. The series has three episodes of fifty-six minutes each, and it is currently streamed on the Ott platform SonyLIV from 29th April 2022.

John Malkovich Patriotic The ABC Murderers Plot And Story

The ABC Murderers is about Hercule Poirot, a private detective solving a serial murder case. The story begins with Poirot showing a letter from the murderer to Hastings. The killer challenges Poirot to stop him.

The letter has the time in which the murder will occur and the villages where it will occur. The murder finally takes place. Poirot and Hastings are too late. The policeman finds the ABC railway guide from where her body is. Poirot then finds some proof from the persons who know Mrs. Ascher but finds nothing suspicious.

Another letter came to him again, saying the murder would occur in Bexhill-on-Sea on the 25th. The police officers try to stop this murder. Unfortunately, they fail to stop the killer.

Again, the murder happens, and this time, the victim is a waitress in a café, Elizabeth Barnard, and once again, the ABC railway guide is found open on her body. The third and fourth letter arrives, and the murders take place too. They find the ABC railway guide on the victims’ dead bodies this time.

The ABC Murderers is a book set in the 1930s when Britain is dangerously divided, and suspicion and hatred are rising. Hercule Poirot’s investigations are continuously obstructed by an enemy determined to outsmart him. If Poirot is to match his enemy, then everything about him will be called into question, including his integrity, authority, past, and identity.

The ABC Murderers Sony Liv Web Series Review  

Phelps’s thoroughly modified the characters and the plot, and this time she’s so dissentient that what’s left isn’t Christie at all.  In the series The ABC Murderers, most of the characters, and the broad outline of the mystery, are still there.

The incomparable Belgian detective living in London, Poirot receives letters signed “ABC.” The letters announce the dates and addresses at which the murders will occur. As the murders duly come to light, the alphabetical pattern becomes clear.

In the book, the focus is always on detection, but for Phelps, detective work is a necessary ignoble, compressed to the point that it’s barely comprehensive. Instead, she is after psychology and relevance. Phelps develops minor plot points in the book and casts Poirot as past his prime, fearful of infirmity and triviality.

She separates Poirot by eliminating his colleague Hastings (who narrates the novel) and makes him a metaphorical and literal deputy to the murderer. It’s not just Poirot whose character has been modified so severely. Almost every character has been pushed toward one extreme or another.

Malkovich performs with determination, showing admirable prudence and subtly making the scenes reliable in which Poirot expresses resentment and anger, which is not at all like Christie. Unfortunately, the joy of a superior investigation is taken away from the series, and one can now expect only a great cast from a Christie adaption. Still, unfortunately, “The ABC Murderers” disappoints us here as well. The writer is so focused on her combination of sophisticated despondency and emotions that she doesn’t give the sharpest actors anything witty to play with.

It feels rushed after two slow episodes when the final truth is revealed. And while some of the murderer’s plans are explained, there are several loose threads that Phelps seems interested in chasing without having any reason to do so. In addition, some dialogues are added, perhaps to make the story feel more modern than its 1933 setting, but they stand out as unnecessary.

The ABC Murderers is, however, still a classic Agatha Christie story, which means that it is a twisty crime thriller. But too many opportunities were taken with its structure to make it work as well as it should. As a result, the dark, dull tone disappointed the viewers, making it difficult to enter the top 10 most streamed series on the Ott platform SonyLIV.