‘Death and Other Details’: A Great Ensemble Keeps Hulu Murder Mystery Afloat at Sea

Alci Rengifo

Murder mysteries are a big fad in streaming. The genre has seen a revival thanks to some recent excellent films and shows. Hulu’s “Death and Other Details” borrows a little from every recent grouping of suspects and intrigue. The lively cast manages to keep the show entertaining enough. The setting is also ideal. A lavish ship with elite passengers, gossip, sex and murderous impulses has a great ring to it. It would all make for an enticing movie and one wishes while watching that it would have been shortened, tightened and designed for a brisker good time. Much works within a slogging whole.

Violett Beane is the first excellent casting choice as Imogene Scott, a 28-year-old on a luxury ocean liner littered with the one percent. Imogene is a haunted soul who carries with her the memory of a mother who died in a mysterious car bombing. An investigator named Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin) was on the case but came up with nothing except a cryptic name. As luck would have it, an unsavory investor named Keith Trubitsky (Michael Gladis) prowls around the ship being a jerk to the staff. Then, he’s found dead in his cabin. In another stroke of destiny, Rufus is also on this ship, at first to Imogene’s annoyance. The burning question is who killed Trubitsky? 

The lineup of suspects is expectedly big and diverse. Lawrence Collier (David Marshall Grant) is a billionaire with shady finances. His wife, Katherine (Jayne Atkinson), is just as crooked. Their daughter-in-law, Leila (Pardis Saremi), earlier accused Trubitsky of stalking her and spouse Anna (Lauren Patten). Don’t forget the ship’s owner, Sunil (Rahul Kohli). Overlooking the staff is Teddy (Angela Zhou) and her sister Winnie (Annie Q. Riegel). Jules (Hugo Diego Garcia) is head of security but started hooking up with Imogene, so he’s a bit distracted. There has to be a lawyer of course, here in the form of Collier attorney Llewellyn (Jere Burns) and a politician, Alexandra (Tamberla Perry). Father Toby (Danny Johnson) couldn’t have possibly done it, right? He’s a man of God after all.

“Death and Other Details” kicks off with much charm with its opulent setting and cinematography clearly chasing after recent hits like “Knives Out.” The pilot is directed by Marc Webb (“500 Days of Summer,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”) with much visual energy. The characters are all basic refugees from other murder mysteries. You always have to wonder why they never stage one of these among the non-rich. When it works it’s because it packs social satire like “Knives Out” or drips with a lot of ambiance like Kenneth Branagh’s recent “A Haunting in Venice.” But those are also compact productions. The challenge in “Death and the Other Details” is stretching out the plot into 10 episodes hoping viewers are invested enough in continuing to stream every week. This is why the actual sleuthing doesn’t kick off until the second episode of the season. It works with Hulu’s great “Only Murders in the Building” because it’s more about the comedy.

All of the oxygen comes from the acting. We’ve seen a million times already the montage where the investigator, in this case Rufus, sits down every single member of our suspect pool and asks where they were, what the relationship to the victim was, etc. We know someone is hiding some valuable piece of information and that the one who hated the victim the most is probably not the killer. In the background are Imogene’s flashbacks to her mother’s death and the family that took her in. So it’s almost two murder mysteries for the price of one. We also get little side dramas, some getting more attention than others, such as Anna and Leila’s marriage, which involves one spouse trying to boost another with confidence in order to confront a rich dad. 

It needn’t be said that this show might appeal primarily to the built-in audience. Like many true crime series, there is enough of interest by a particular sector to defy any reviews. Some of the show’s style almost harkens back to a more classic network TV format, from those days when the smaller screen was offering its own take on big screen themes. For murder mystery aficionado, the patience needed to keep following this plot is not a problem. For the casually intrigued viewer, “Death and Other Details” is nice to look at for a while as one admires the craft of the producers and actors. Instead of wanting to become a sleuth, some viewers may just be inspired to book a luxury cruise vacation. 

“Death and Other Details” season one begins streaming Jan. 16 with new episodes premiering Tuesdays on Hulu.