Gossip To Die For – Tubi Review (2/5)

GOSSIP TO DIE FOR (2024) on Tubi is a new Serial Killer Thriller. It has a decent – if forced – plot but some clunky dialogue. It’s a whodunnit with a runtime of around 90 minutes. Find it as Deadly Gossip on IMDb. Read our Gossip To Die For movie review here!

GOSSIP TO DIE FOR is a new Tubi thriller with a serial killer plot. On IMDb, you can find it under the title of Deadly Gossip so this has apparently been the working title. With a runtime of around an hour and a half, it doesn’t go on for too long. Still, we get plenty of flashbacks to help us understand it all when the mastermind killer is revealed.

However, the plot really isn’t that difficult to follow, which means it’s more filler than actual content. Overall, the whodunnit plot is okay. Nothing more, but not really any less either. Much of the dialogue and character interaction in general tends to be extremely stereotypical, clunky, and predictable. A shame really.

Continue reading our Gossip To Die For (2024) movie review below. Find it on Tubi from May 3, 2024.

Murders predicted on a Blind Items gossip website

In Gossip To Die For, we meet “a troubled detective” as she returns to work after some time off. Her husband – who was also on the force – passed away and she’s been putting her life back together alongside her 12-year-old son. A son who calls himself an Internet sleuth and more than once alludes to the fact that he’s a better detective than his mom.

Of course, we already know from the beginning that she will end up praising the kid before it’s all over. Even calling him “her mentor” which is perhaps one of the best examples of a bad line in this Tubi thriller.

Anyway, our troubled detective is Quinn (Susan Ateh) and she’s getting back to the job by heading directly to a murder scene. Or, you know, maybe it’s murder, maybe it’s suicide. That’s always the case when a young woman dies – if you follow true crime, you’ll know how many murders have been written off as suicides and never fully investigated.

In Gossip to Die For, it’s fairly quickly acknowledged that it was murder. And it’s not the last as a serial killer is just getting started. The twist in this movie is that the high-profile murders are always “predicted” by a new Blind Items website that features murder predictions rather than your classic gossip and rumors.

A strong black woman and a white British man

Let me start by saying that the main character’s British partner, Carter, was a huge annoyance to me. Why should someone from London become an NYPD homicide detective and be placed on a high-profile murder case alongside someone who just returned from time off? It makes no sense.

Also, there is something overtly theatrical in how the British lines are delivered. It makes the movie come across like some kind of noir detective drama. And it most certainly isn’t a noir movie.

Pairing the strong black lead female character with this white British man doesn’t make anything better. And definitely not a movie about a serial killer in New York City. Plus, the whole character arc for Carter (Jay Rincon), the British partner of our NYPD homicide detective, is just silly. Well, to me, anyway.

Had Carter been someone from the South with a charming Southern drawl, it would have made so much more sense. This idea that you’re a cop in one country and just move to the US to continue your career seems very strange.

Watch Gossip To Die For on Tubi now!

The director of Gossip To Die For (2024) is Nanea Miyata, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Mahler Landman. Previously, Daniel Mahler Landman has worked mostly in the costume department of many wonderful productions. From Avengers: Infinity War to Jupiter’s Legacy and Minx, the IMDb credits are impressive.

As a writer, however, this is just the second production after having co-written Yuletide the Knot (2023). A Christmas movie directed by Nanea Miyata as well. However, as a writer and director, Nanea Miyata has been working in different genres. Christmas movies can pay the bills of many struggling directors, so we’re not about to shame that.

Previous movies in the thriller genre include Dead in the Water (2021) and A Party to Die For (2022). That latter title may be why Tubi opted for the Gossip to Die For title. I mean, as opposed to Deadly Gossip which – as of writing this review – is still the only title I can find this movie under on IMDb.

Whatever the title or genre, it isn’t the style or directing, I have an issue with. It isn’t even the serial killer plot. Instead, it’s the dialogue that can be quite cringey. If these two could tighten up that part, the next thriller could be much better!

Gossip to Die For is out on Tubi on May 3, 2024.

Details

Director: Nanea Miyata
Writers: Daniel Mahler Landman, Nanea Miyata
Stars: Susan Ateh, Roisin Browne, Hunter Del Valle Marfo, Doña Croll, Jay Rincon, Brooke Walter, Amanda Jane York