Film review: Not even Idris Elba can redeem Luther: The Fallen Sun

"if police procedural cliches blended into a fantastical serial killer storyline is your idea of a good time, you’d have to say he’s knocked it out of the park"

Fri, 10 Mar, 2023 - 17:00

Declan Burke

Luther: The Fallen Sun
★★☆☆☆

Luther: The Fallen Sun (16s) stars Idris Elba as DCI John Luther, whose unorthodox approach to policing results in his imprisonment just as a sociopathic serial killer, David Robey (Andy Serkis), gets into his stride.

Tortured by Robey’s taunting, Luther escapes to track down the killer, much to dismay of the lead investigator on the case, Detective Odette Raine (Cynthia Evrio). Neil Cross, who wrote the Luther TV series, is on screenwriting duties here, and if police procedural cliches blended into a fantastical serial killer storyline is your idea of a good time, you’d have to say he’s knocked it out of the park.

Dermot Crowley as Martin Schenk in Luther: The Fallen Sun.

Idris is a terrific actor, and would make a superb James Bond (there are a couple of hints here, one martini-related, that allude to the possibility), but there isn’t a lot he can do with the kind of dross that involves Luther pursuing a ridiculously well-resourced serial killer who seems to waste all his money and time in concocting bewilderingly elaborate schemes rather than — just a suggestion — retire to a quiet Caribbean island to enjoy his wealth at his leisure.