The Oxford Murders – 2008 |mins | Crime, Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Scholarly thriller that is far too clever for its own good, adapted from Argentine Guillermo Martinez’s 2003 novel by Spanish writer/director Alex de la Iglesia. Directed in a Hitchcockian vein, de la Iglesia keeps the twists and turns coming but fails to inject any sense of urgency into the tedious finale. John Hurt chews the scenery and hams it up, while rising Spanish star Watling fills the void left by an underwhelming Wood.

A wide-eyed American mathematics student, Martin (Elijah Wood), and crotchety Wittgenstein professor Arthur Seldom (John Hurt) believe they have stumbled across someone attempting the perfect murder within the cloistered colleges and paved streets of sleepy Oxford.The prime suspects appear to be frustrated cellist Beth (Julie Cox); the daughter of the first victim, twitchy Russian student Podorov (Burn Gorman), buxom nurse Lorna (Leonor Watling) or even Seldom himself; who lectures on the meaningless of existence. Seldom and Martin use advanced number theories to crack the mathematical symbols that are being left by the victims’ bodies.