A washed-up actor from an old TV show gets a call from the
​police to help catch a murderer who thinks the show was real.

COMEDY/CRIME

Mindhorn (2016)

Directed by Sean Foley

Written by Julian Barratt and Simon Farnaby

Starring Julian Barratt, Essie Davis, Andrea Riseborough,
Russell Tovey, Simon Farnaby, David Schofield,
Richard McCabe, Steve Coogan

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Connor Eyzaguirre

August 23, 2022

8/10

I adore British humor. Sarcasm, wit, and exceptional visual gags comprise the sense of humor of the funniest blokes on the planet. Take Mindhorn, for example. In the wrong hands, this movie is terrible. But in the hands of the people behind The Mighty Boosh and executive producer Steve Coogan, it's a hilarious comedy thriller that's hiding way in the back of Netflix's catalog of original content. It takes the Galaxy Quest approach of giving us a washed-up TV actor whose ego got out of control. But now, he has to don his old costume once more because a nutcase thinks the show was real, and he's willing to kill for it.

Richard Thorncroft (Barratt) was once the hottest ticket on British television. He was the star of Mindhorn, a show about a detective with an eyepatch that was also a lie detector. He was dating his costar, Patricia Deville (Davis), and Hollywood was calling. Life was great. Then, he left Patricia, went to Hollywood because he thought he was better than the show, and it all went to shit. He's been out of work for 25 years, then he gets a call from the Isle of Man police force, saying a killer wants to talk to Detective Mindhorn. Thinking he can get some publicity, Thorncroft goes to the Isle of Man, and his past is there waiting for him. The situations this dope finds himself in are hilarious and absolutely bonkers, and the story is very engaging, especially once you learn what's really going on here.

I had little expectations for Mindhorn, but I wound up pleasantly surprised. It's no secret that Netflix's original content is either amazing or forgettable, and with zero advertisement for six years, I didn't think this one was worth it. But it really is, especially for fans of similarly-styled stuff, like Monty Python or the Cornetto Trilogy. Check it out for yourself.