Movie review
August 22, 2025 · 118 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The movie keeps pushing girl power the whole way through with Helen Mirren as the sharp ex-spy who leads and drives the club. It shows a black female cop who outsmarts her slovenly male boss and gets treated like a servant fetching tea for the men. The story drops a gay reveal for Ben Kingsley's character right at the end with an old photo that adds nothing to the plot. These identity elements stand out in the senior sleuth mystery.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Thursday Murder Club.
Woke representation / casting
strong female lead in spy role plus black female cop shown superior to male boss with servant scene
Woke political dialogue
no explicit activist dialogue
Identity-driven story themes
subtle gay reveal for main character at end unrelated to story plus girl power competence
Western institutional / cultural critique
light greedy developer villain and police boys club with race gender undertone
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Production
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
minimal woke backlash present mostly adaptation issues
Creator track record context
director's public anti-Rowling gender stance and writer's feminist history
