Dir. Stephen Shimek — Starring Mischa Barton, Mido Hamada, Kojo Attah, Nell Barlow, Raha Rahbari, Antonia Bernath, Richard Dillane
A Mystery That Kicks the Doors Open
Some murder mysteries tiptoe into the room with a dainty clue and a polite cough. Stephen Shimek’s Murder at the Embassy kicks the door off the hinges, drops us into 1930s Egypt, and hands us a martini sweating in the desert sun. It’s the sequel to Invitation to a Murder, but this one has bigger shadows, hotter sand, and a heroine whose internal filter was clearly lost in customs.
Cairo in Cinemascope
The film opens with sprawling, cinematic sweeps over Cairo, the kind of old-world travel-postcard imagery that makes you want to book a questionable steamer ship immediately. Shimek’s camera loves this place, the sun-bleached stone, the diplomatic pomp, the way the British Embassy rises like a stubborn colonial fossil.
And the wardrobe? On point. Crisp linen, tailored silhouettes, and enough period accuracy to make a museum curator pass out.
Enter Miranda Green — Sleuth, Sledgehammer, Social Menace
We meet Miranda Green, the returning sleuth who solves crimes with the speed and confidence of a woman who’s seen too many people lie for a living. She’s sharp, she’s brilliant, and she does not care whose ego she tramples on the way to the truth.
She could get to the bottom of a crime before breakfast and still have time to insult everyone at the table.
A Murder Arrives Early, As It Should
Like any respectable whodunnit, a corpse drops early, and thank the cinema gods for that. The victim is Maggie. The suspects? A diplomatic nest of snakes.
And the complication? No police. Not in the Embassy. Not with political stakes this high.
When the walls are lined with protocol and power, you call the woman who doesn’t care about either.
Nazis, Secrets & Tea-Time Violence
The film even throws in a Nazi sympathizer, because nothing spices up a murder mystery like the worst dinner guest in history lurking in the hallways. Miranda’s task: unmask the killer before the embassy collapses into chaos, scandal, or a very impolite bout of tea-time violence.
A Softer, Linen-Clad Knives Out
What Shimek pulls off is a softer, period-set Knives Out,
less cheeky, more elegant; less neon, more linen.
A mystery that lounges in its setting but snaps when it must.
The cast brings a full deck of personalities, each hiding something behind polite diplomacy and perfect posture.
A Scenic, Stylish Desert Whodunnit
Here’s the truth: I genuinely enjoyed this film.
It’s scenic, stylish, and confidently old-fashioned without feeling dusty. A mystery that knows the assignment: give us a charismatic sleuth, a sealing-wax-tight setting, and enough intrigue to keep the desert heat from being the only thing making you sweat.
Final Boarding Call
Murder at the Embassy is playing in select theaters and streaming, so you’ve got no excuse. Pack your passport, check your alibi, and let Miranda Green drag you through Cairo’s most dangerous diplomatic cocktail party.
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