Story:
The Buckingham Murders follows British-Indian detective Jasmeet Bhamra, also known as Jas (played by Kareena Kapoor Khan), as she navigates a complex murder mystery in a quiet English town while dealing with her personal trauma. Tasked with solving the case of a missing Sikh boy, Jas must untangle a web of social tensions and personal grief.
Review:
When a young Sikh boy vanishes in a British town, suspicion immediately falls on a Muslim teenager, intensifying the region’s underlying religious tensions. Jas (Kareena Kapoor Khan), a seasoned detective dealing with the tragic loss of her own child, is assigned to the case. Her approach is marked by a deep commitment to her work, using it as an escape from her personal sorrow. However, the case proves to be more than just a professional challenge—it opens old wounds and threatens to stir up communal strife within the immigrant community.
Films like Happy Valley, Broadchurch, and Mare of Easttown have set a high bar for female-led detective dramas, blending personal trauma with gripping crime stories. The Buckingham Murders attempts to walk a similar path, but while it captures the moodiness and gloom of a British police procedural, it doesn’t always hit the mark in terms of pacing and tension.
Director Hansal Mehta creates a haunting atmosphere, full of eerie silence and darkness, but the film struggles to maintain the nervous energy that is essential to gripping crime dramas. The slow-burn approach often feels stagnant, as the focus on larger themes—whether political, religious, or social—sometimes overshadows the central murder mystery. Much like Sonam Kapoor’s Blind, the setting of a sleepy English town is ripe for intrigue, but the characters don’t always seem fully integrated into their surroundings.
Despite these pacing issues, The Buckingham Murders offers a compelling exploration of grief and repressed emotions. Jas’s reluctance to confront her own trauma adds depth to the narrative, and her strained relationship with her father is especially poignant. The film unfolds more as a character study than a traditional whodunit, with its emotional core grounded in unresolved loss and anger. The performances, particularly Kareena Kapoor’s, elevate the film.
Known for her glamorous roles, Kareena Kapoor delivers a subtle, restrained performance here, showing her range as an actor. In a de-glam role, she uses silence as a powerful tool, conveying her character’s inner turmoil without the need for dialogue. It’s a refreshing departure from her usual roles, offering shades of the nuanced performances she delivered in films like Udta Punjab and Talaash. Chef Ranveer Brar and Ash Tandon also turn in strong performances in supporting roles.
While The Buckingham Murders may not offer the edge-of-your-seat thrills one might expect, it succeeds in keeping the audience guessing about the killer’s identity until the end. The film’s exploration of grief, isolation, and emotional suppression makes it a standout, even if its build-up could have been more intense and gripping.
