Why 'The Thursday Murder Club' reminds us to never forget our elders

When I first popped up into the Zoom room and saw the legends on the other side of the Internet, the United Kingdom to be exact, while I just came from a press conference in Mother Ignacia, it felt surreal to me that Sir Ben Kingsley, Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Celia Imrie were there to actually converse with yours truly.

- MJ MARFORI

My instinctive reaction was, "Wow, this is truly what the Internet is for."

Yes, I had to pinch myself. These are not just actors. They are living icons, award winners whose faces and artistry defined decades of cinema — Oscars, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and in Pierce's case, even the suave mystique of James Bond himself.

And yet, here they were, talking to me about a story that doesn't just celebrate mystery and crime-solving but something more universal: the beauty of growing old, the wisdom of life's later chapters, and the importance of never sidelining our elderly.

"The Thursday Murder Club" is the Netflix and Amblin Entertainment film adaptation of Richard Osman's wildly successful novel. The latter has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, been translated into 46 languages and even been hailed as the UK's best-selling book of the decade.

At its core is a simple yet brilliant premise: a group of retirees in their 70s and 80s band together in a quiet retirement village to solve cold cases.