Television series

A Murder at the End of the World

Name: A Murder at the End of the World
Genre: Crime, Science Fiction, Mystery
Released: 2023
Cast: Emma Corrin, Clive Owen, Brit Marling, Harris Dickinson, Raúl Esparza

A Gen Z hacker becomes an accidental detective when a billionaire's exclusive retreat turns deadly. It's a locked-room mystery rebuilt for the internet age—tense, clever, and genuinely funny about how a brilliant but anxious young woman navigates a crisis where she's massively out of her depth. Sharp dialogue, genuine stakes, and Emma Corrin's performance carries you through.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a whodunit where the puzzle is built on clever tech and a tight circle of suspects, and you enjoy a sleek, high-concept premise that rewards close attention to who is lying about what.

Skip it if you want a slow, character-soaked mystery; this one moves briskly through its seven hours, and the glossy, polished tone can feel more like a stylish puzzle box than a lived-in world.

What it asks of you: Seven hour-long episodes, one season, and it wants you alert from the start, with plenty of clues to track and little time spent lingering on the scenery.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Only Murders in the Building2021

Three strangers bond over a mystery in their apartment building. It has that same locked-room energy, the same pleasure in layered plotting, and a cast that makes you believe in their unlikely partnership. Hulu knows this genre.

But The first season is nearly perfect; the ones after are less so. If you binge the whole thing, fatigue sets in.

Knives Out2019

A mystery where the puzzle is half the fun and the dialogue is sharp enough to draw blood. Like Darby's investigation, it revels in smart people being smart in rooms together, and Daniel Craig having the time of his life undermines any pretension.

But The twist is in the marketing, so nothing lands quite as hard on rewatch. Also nearly three hours.

Poker Face2023

An anthology where a woman with the ability to read lies stumbles into mysteries she didn't ask for, then talks her way out. Each episode is a locked room; each one cracks differently. Natasha Lyonne carries it the way Emma carries Darby.

But Anthology format means no ongoing plot. If you hate starting over with new characters every episode, this won't grip you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A Murder at the End of the World

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Turning Red2022

Both centre a brilliant, anxious young woman who must solve a crisis (external or internal) while managing the adults' expectations and her own terror of being wrong.

It's a wildcard because it seems like nothing to do with Darby—until you realize both are about a young woman figuring out who she is while the adults around her are lying or distracted. The mystery here is internal: self-knowledge under pressure. It's funny, gorgeous, and takes its protagonist's brain seriously.

But It's a Pixar film, so you might expect it to be for children. It's not. Some will find the mother-daughter dynamic claustrophobic.

Veronica Mars2004

A young woman solves crimes in a corrupt town using brains and stubbornness. It invented the blueprint Darby follows—the amateur sleuth who sees what adults miss. Genuinely funny, genuinely hard-boiled, and the first two seasons are untouchable.

But It's a network show from the 2000s, which means some of the sensibility has aged. Also, it goes on longer than it should.

The Suspect2022

A man must prove his innocence when he's framed for murder, and the pressure mounts in real time across three days. Clive Owen is in both—here he carries the weight differently. Claustrophobic, brutal, and never lets up.

But It's grim and airless in ways Darby isn't. Some will find it exhausting rather than gripping.

See How They Run2022

A murder mystery set in 1950s London theatres, with a pair of mismatched detectives picking at a puzzle. It's playful and overstuffed in the best way, and it understands that the genre itself is part of the fun.

But The trickiness sometimes overshadows character. You might feel like you're watching a mechanism instead of a story.

Bodyguard2018

A British political thriller where nothing is what it seems and every episode ends on a gasp. The plotting is surgical; the paranoia is contagious. If you want that same sense of being lost in a maze, this delivers.

But It's heavy and tense to the point of exhaustion. There's no lightness here, no jokes. Some scenes are genuinely traumatic.

Scream Queens2015

A new generation of characters caught in a murder mystery where the rules keep changing. It has the playfulness of Darby—characters who know the genre and talk about it—plus genuine scares and high-school politics.

But The meta commentary can feel forced, and the gore might push past your comfort zone. Also, slasher logic doesn't always hold up to scrutiny.

Cryptozoo2021

Both use genre tropes to tell a story about how information moves and how young people navigate systems designed to exclude them. Both reward paying attention.

An animated sci-fi mystery about a team protecting hidden creatures from a conspiracy. It's gorgeously strange, genuinely tense, and structured like a locked-room mystery—you're watching pieces click into place in real time. No wasted frames.

But The animation style is divisive; some find it beautiful, others strain to watch it. The plot gets dense and occasionally opaque.

High Score2020

Both are about information: how it's hidden, how it's found, who controls it. Both have that same pleasure in seeing a puzzle solved by someone brilliant enough to notice what everyone else missed.

A documentary series about video game history told like a mystery—how did we get here? Each episode is a self-contained investigation into a moment that shaped the medium. It's smart, intimate, and structured like a detective uncovering a hidden story.

But It's a documentary, so if you want narrative drama and character arcs, you won't find them. Also assumes some gaming knowledge.