Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

I have become a big fan of the Miss Fisher television series, so I was eager to see this crowd-funded leap into feature films. Unfortunately, the box office take was already dismal before the coronavirus closed theaters during its release, so I don't hold out much hope that the planned trilogy of films will happen now.

But if this winds up being the only Miss Fisher movie, it's not a bad one. It provides all of the mystery and comedy and romance that a decent episode of the series would have, with a bigger budget for action and sets, and a luxurious running time for the mystery to develop in a less rushed manner. It also provided more closure to character relationships than the TV series did, since (I assume) the series wrapped with hopes of another season. The weakest part of the movie is probably its sub-par special effects and the obvious camera trickery meant to conceal them, but that's understandable given its limited resources.

If you aren't familiar with Miss Fisher, this probably isn't the place to start. Check out the series (currently on Amazon Prime) and work your way up to this as a button on the end, and skip the hare-brained spinoff series set in the 1960s. There's a reason why the show has become such a worldwide hit! It's so much fun.

− April 24, 2020 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply