Luther: The Fallen Sun – Netflix Review (4/5)

LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN on Netflix is a new serial killer movie. Idris Elba continues to star in the title role just as he did in the series that came before. If you tend to enjoy dark crime thrillers, then you’ll love this one. Read our full Luther: The Fallen Sun movie review here!

LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN is a new Netflix thriller based on the BBC series that ran from 2010 to 2019. Over five seasons (one of them being a Christmas special with just two episodes), a total of 21 episodes have been released.

The Luther series has been on my list of things to watch forever. As of watching this Luther movie on Netflix, I have not watched a single episode of the series. Still, I expected this movie to be good. However, I never anticipated that it would be this good.

With a runtime of 2 hours and 10 minutes, it never feels too long. Even if I did spend much of the runtime on the edge of my seat!

Continue reading our Luther: The Fallen Sun movie review below. Watch it on Netflix from March 10, 2023.

Idris Elba doesn’t need Bond – He’s already Luther!

While I never got around to watching the Luther series before checking out the movie, the one thing I knew was that it starred Idris Elba (The Dark Tower) in the title role. Also, I knew it was produced by the BBC and is a classic crime, drama, mystery, thriller hybrid series. Exactly the kind that British television has excelled at for decades.

What I didn’t expect from this Luther movie on Netflix was something that could compare with James Bond movies.

However, with the huge exception that DCI John Luther doesn’t use various gadgets and gimmicks. He’s just a brawler and an actual genius when it comes to reading people. Think Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot more than Ethan Hunt of the Mission Impossible movies, when it comes to figuring out the crime mystery.

But with a touch of Dirty Harry when it comes to getting the bad guys to talk. In that sense, he’s also quite reminiscent of James Bond. Though, now that I think about it, James Bond tends to be the one being tortured rather than to torture someone. John Luther is experiencing both ends – so to speak – in this Netflix movie alone!

A few years back, there was a lot of talk about the possibility that Idris Elba could be the next James Bond. However, watching this movie, I couldn’t help but think that Idris Elba doesn’t need to be James Bond when he’s already John Luther. Admittedly, I think he could’ve been a brilliant James Bond, but this movie is as dark as the final Bond movie starring Daniel Craig.

And that’s neither a teaser nor a spoiler.

A new boss and a new supervillain

Along with Idris Elba, Luther: The Fallen Sun has an immensely strong cast. Cynthia Erivo (Bad Times at the El Royale, Stephen King’s The Outsider) is the new boss, DCI Odette Raine. Though she’s not exactly the boss of John Luther since he ends up in prison at the beginning of the movie.

As always, Cynthia Erivo is a force to be reckoned with. She’s a tiny woman really, but standing across from the tall Idris Elba, you forget due to her big and bold attitude.

Also, there’s Andy Serkis who is absolutely fantastic as the supervillain. And he really is a villain of the worst kind. He is a serial killer of a very special kind. The kind who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, but who is controlling everything. It’s brilliant and terrifying in an intensely sick way.

Many people die in Luther: The Fallen Sun and even more corpses are seen. As in people who have already died when the story begins. Andy Serkis has the perfect face for this kind of villain who hides in plain sight. And yes, we do know that he is the serial killer from both the trailer and the beginning of the movie.

While Andy Serkis (The Batman, Planet of the Apes trilogy) can look the part of a deranged villain, he can sound even more like one. A brilliant voice actor, he is able to fully utilize that talent here as well.

Watch Luther: The Fallen Sun on Netflix!

The director of Luther: The Fallen Sun is Jamie Payne who previously directed episodes of the Luther series (all of season 5) and a few episodes of The Alienist series. To name just a few on the impressive IMDb resume of Jamie Payne.

The writer is Neil Cross, which makes perfect sense as he is also the creator of the BBC series Luther. Having watched this Netflix movie about DCI John Luther “doing what he does best”, I am actually quite excited to still have the Luther series to look forward to. In fact, it’s moving to the very top of my watchlist quite fast.

Whether you’re familiar with the Luther series or not, this is an intensely entertaining thriller with a crime mystery. For horror fans, it also offers a very intriguing villain and a downright diabolic plan. In fact, the entire method behind the crimes and murders in this movie was a stroke of brilliance. Mostly because I expect most people will be able to relate in some way.

Luther: The Fallen Sun is on Netflix from March 10, 2023. Also, it’s been in select theaters since February 2023.

Details

Director: Jamie Payne
Writer: Neil Cross
Stars: Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis, Dermot Crowley, Thomas Coombes, Hattie Morahan