Helen Mirren stars as the acerbic crime writer Patricia Highsmith in "A Talent for Murder," a psychological thriller directed by Anton Corbijn that imagines a fictional encounter with real-life consequences. The film, adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith from her play "Switzerland," is not a biopic but a cat-and-mouse tale exploring themes of identity, doppelgangers and the blurred line between fiction and reality, tapping into Highsmith's own notoriety for both her literary genius and her deeply unpleasant personal views.

Set in 1995 at Highsmith's isolated Swiss home outside Zurich, the story follows Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich), an invented publisher's representative sent to convince the reclusive, ailing author to write a sixth Tom Ripley novel. As Highsmith tests and probes her mysterious young visitor, played opposite Olivia Cooke's Clementine, the film weaves in a story-within-a-story set in Rome that deliberately echoes the themes of Highsmith's own Ripley novels, blurring fact and invention. Critics highlight Mirren's masterful, scowling portrayal alongside Corbijn's stylish, slow-burn direction and Dimitri Capuani's telling production design.