Despite Kareena Kapoor Khan’s solid central performance and some engaging procedural elements, Hansal Mehta’s The Buckingham Murders stumbles in its attempts to explore intricate themes comprehensively.
Jasmeet Bhamra (Kareena Kapoor Khan), a British-Indian detective dealing with the recent death of her only son, is voluntarily transferred to the small, sleepy town of Buckinghamshire in the hopes of starting over. On the day of her arrival, she is assigned a case involving a missing Indian boy, Ishpreet Kohli (Sartaaj Kakkar), who is the adoptive son of Daljeet Kohli (Ranveer Brar) and Harleen (Prabhleen Sandhu). Following extensive search efforts and the monitoring of Ishpreet’s whereabouts by CCTV cameras, he is discovered dead in a park. As a result, the murder investigation begins, and Jasmeen discovers some unsettling truths and dark secrets while dealing with her own loss and challenges.
With a concise 109-minute runtime and no superfluous plot points, songs, or overly dramatic scenes, the film manages to keep your attention, particularly during the procedural parts, where Jasmeet finds some interesting leads that reveal crucial information at just the right moments, whether it is the animosity between Ishpreet’s family and the family of one of the suspects or one particular character’s questionable history of using children to sell drugs, etc. The screenplay deftly adheres to the standard murder mystery structure, which keeps you busy and guessing by establishing a solid case against at least two to three suspects before exposing the actual perpetrator. As a result, the film does an excellent job of maintaining the unpredictability surrounding the true killer’s identity.
Although the identity of the killer comes off as a genuinely surprising and entirely unexpected development, the reveal does not work as well as it should because, in the first place, the unraveling of the mystery happens too quickly, almost skimming over crucial details that could have given the story more depth and complexity, and, in the second place, the killer’s motivations feel weak, uninspired, and unsatisfactory—in fact, some of the suspects’ motivations in the movie were more compelling and genuine than the true killer’s. Additionally, the film aims to cover plenty of ground, touching on topics like religious tensions, LGBTQ issues in conservative societies, economic hardship, and immigration acclimation. However, these issues are only briefly acknowledged and brushed over without being thoroughly explored, resulting in a lack of cohesion and fluidity in their integration into the murder mystery. The investigation of these issues seems so trivial that removing them would leave the overall outcome unchanged, if not slightly better.
The Buckingham Murders rests on Kareena Kapoor Khan’s shoulders, and she absolutely kills it as Jaspreet Bhamra, delivering an exceptional performance that renders the viewing experience worthwhile. Her portrayal is solemn, subtle, and grounded as she embodies a distraught mother with great melancholy. Jasmeet’s personal loss is subtly interwoven with the case, giving her the tenacity and resolve to solve it at whatever cost and bring Ishpreet the justice he deserves, as well as providing her the closure she needs through a very well-established character arc throughout the film. The supporting characters also deliver—notably Ranveer Brar as Daljeet, Ishpreet’s reckless and aggressive father with rage issues; Ash Tandon as Inspector Hardy, Jasmeet’s colleague struggling with his own personal problems; Kapil Redekar as a teenage suspect accused of murder, and Prabhleen Sandhu as Harleen, Daljeet’s wife who is the victim of domestic abuse as well as ridicule and belittlement from her husband.
The Buckingham Murders is now playing in theatres near you.
The Buckingham Murders movie links: Letterboxd, Wikipedia
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