A Murder at the End of the World

A Murder at the End of the World is an American psychological mystery thriller television miniseries created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij for FX on Hulu. It stars Emma Corrin as an amateur detective who attempts to solve a murder at an isolated Arctic retreat in Iceland. The supporting cast includes Brit Marling, Clive Owen, and Harris Dickinson.

The series, the fifth collaboration between Marling and Batmanglij, premiered its first two episodes on FX on Hulu on November 14, 2023, with the rest being released weekly until December 19, 2023. It was originally set to be released on August 29, 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. It received positive critical reviews and was named among the best TV shows of 2023 by a number of publications.

Premise
The series follows Darby Hart, an amateur detective, who is invited, along with eight other guests, by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at an isolated Arctic compound in Iceland. When one of the other guests dies, Darby must use all of her skills to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.

Main

 * Emma Corrin as Darby Hart
 * Brit Marling as Lee Andersen
 * Harris Dickinson as William "Bill" Farrah
 * Alice Braga as Dr. Sian Cruise
 * Joan Chen as Lu Mei
 * Raúl Esparza as David Alvarez
 * Jermaine Fowler as Martin Mitchell
 * Ryan J. Haddad as Oliver Marwan
 * Pegah Ferydoni as Ziba
 * Javed Khan as Rohan Ravjit
 * Louis Cancelmi as Todd Andrews, Andy's head of security
 * Edoardo Ballerini as Ray
 * Clive Owen as Andy Ronson

Recurring

 * Christopher Gurr as Marius
 * Britian Seibert as Dr. Eva Andrews
 * Kellan Tetlow as Zoomer Ronson, Andy and Lee's son
 * Neal Huff as Darby's father
 * Daniel Olson as Tomas
 * Annette Wright as Dorthey
 * Anastasia Lee as young Darby

Development
On August 13, 2021, it was announced that FX had ordered the limited series, then titled Retreat, created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who would serve as executive producers and also write and direct. The series marks the fifth collaboration between Marling and Batmanglij, who have been working together for over a decade, including as the creators of the Netflix mystery-science fiction drama series The OA (2016–2019). Aside from Marling and Batmanglij, Andrea Sperling, Melanie Marnich and Nicki Paluga would also serve as executive producers.

The story began to be developed by Marling and Batmanglij in 2019, inspired by their interests in stories about amateur sleuths and young female detectives, and the idea of how much knowledge Gen Z could obtain from the internet. Marling and Batmanglij had access to an early preview of ChatGPT and incorporated the result of their testing in the script.

Casting
Along with the series' announcement, Marling was set to co-star in a key role. On October 11, 2021, Emma Corrin was cast in the lead role of Darby Hart. On February 11, 2022, Clive Owen, Harris Dickinson, Alice Braga, Jermaine Fowler, Joan Chen, Raúl Esparza, Edoardo Ballerini, Pegah Ferydoni, Ryan J. Haddad, and Javed Khan were cast in main roles. On April 6, 2022, Daniel Olson and Britian Seibert were cast in recurring roles.

Filming
The series began principal photography on February 7, 2022, with filming taking place in Kearny, New Jersey, Utah, and Iceland. In April 2022, filming took place for three days at the Readington River Buffalo Farm in Readington, New Jersey. A scene that shows Darby riding and walking a bike, with a glimpse of the Mill Lane Tavern, was filmed in Rockaway Boro, New Jersey. On September 2, 2022, Marling posted on her Instagram account that it was the final day of shooting. In late December 2022, the Los Angeles Times stated that the series had finished filming.

Release
In the United States, the seven-episode miniseries premiered on November 14, 2023, on FX on Hulu, with the first two episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis. It was originally set to debut on August 29, 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Internationally, the series premiered on Disney+, while in Latin America it premiered on Star+.

Promotion
To promote the series, FX Networks launched a months-long puzzle utilizing websites, physical tools, and Instagram. The puzzle started when FX hosted an event at The Mysterious Bookshop where fans were given pages to decode. These pages lead to the reveal of the first promo image for the show. The puzzle continued later with rings given out to those who attended the A Murder At The End Of The World booth at the San Diego Comic Con. Through Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities, the rings lead to an online webpage that revealed a trailer for the show.

Audience viewership
According to ReelGood, which tracks real-time data from 5 million users in the United States across subscription and advertisement-based video on demand services for streaming programs and movies, A Murder at the End of the World became the most watched content during the week of November 23. Meanwhile, JustWatch reported that the series became the second most streamed TV show in the United States during the weeks of November 19 and 26.

According to data from Television Stats, the series has topped the Hulu's Top TV Shows chart on November 14, 2023, where it has remained in the position as of November 27, 2023.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a approval rating of 89%, with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 55 reviews. The critics consensus reads, "Confounding as it is seductive, Murder at the End of the World is a worthy brain-teaser for fans of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's offbeat storytelling." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the show a score of 73 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

A Murder at the End of the World was named among the best TV shows of 2023 by Variety, Elle, Rolling Stone, LA Times, Boston Globe, The New York Post, The New Republic, The Wrap, Collider, The Ringer and Vulture.

Fan response
In order to discuss the puzzles released by FX Networks, fans created a Discord Server called Angel Neurosis. This discord server grew from 30 members to 1,000 members over the course of the show airing. Angel Neurosis hosted weekly watch parties as the show premiered. Cast and crew, including Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling (Lee), Javed Kahn (Rohan), Edoardo Ballerini (Ray), Daniel Olson (Tomas), and Alex DiGerlando have attended these watch parties and participated in live chats with Angel Neurosis members.