Adam Sandler
Nick Spitz
Murder Mystery
“First class problems. Second class detectives.”
2019
1h 38m
Director: Kyle Newacheck
Overview
On a long-awaited trip to Europe, a New York City cop and his hairdresser wife scramble to solve a baffling murder aboard a billionaire's yacht.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
7 min readThe Gilded Cage of a Whodunnit
I’ll admit it: I laughed at the Ferrari chase. Not because it was good—it wasn’t—but because it was so earnest. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston careen through the streets of Monaco in a bright red sports car, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blaring, while a baffled French inspector (Dany Boon) gives chase in a decidedly less glamorous police vehicle.
The sequence is pure cinematic sugar, the kind of moment that exists solely to make you grin before the credits roll. And yet, there’s something oddly charming about how unapologetically stupid it is. Murder Mystery knows exactly what it is: a throwaway whodunnit dressed in a tuxedo, offering the cinematic equivalent of a cheap but satisfying dessert. The question is whether that’s enough.
Kyle Newacheck’s film is a curious beast. It’s a Netflix Original, which means it was designed to be consumed in one sitting, preferably with a glass of wine and a bag of chips. There’s no pretense of prestige here, no attempt to reinvent the wheel.
Instead, Murder Mystery leans into the comfort of the familiar: the billionaire’s yacht, the roster of eccentric suspects, the bumbling amateur detectives who stumble into a murder they didn’t ask for. It’s Agatha Christie by way of Clue, with a dash of The Pink Panther thrown in for good measure. The film doesn’t just acknowledge its genre trappings—it winks at them.
Audrey Spitz (Aniston) is a hairdresser who devours mystery novels, and she’s constantly pointing out the clichés as they unfold. “This is just like that book I read,” she says at one point, as if the film itself is winking back at her. It’s a meta touch, but a half-hearted one. The script by James Vanderbilt is content to coast on the charm of its leads rather than subvert the formula in any meaningful way.
And yet, charm is a currency that Murder Mystery spends freely. Sandler and Aniston have an undeniable chemistry, one that feels lived-in and warm. Their characters, Nick and Audrey Spitz, are a middle-aged couple stuck in a rut.
Nick is a cop who’s never passed his detective’s exam (and has been lying about it for years), and Audrey is a hairdresser who dreams of adventure. Their marriage is fraying at the edges, held together by habit and a shared sense of disappointment. When they’re invited onto a billionaire’s yacht for a weekend getaway, it’s supposed to be their second honeymoon.
Instead, it becomes a nightmare of murder, mistaken identity, and a Ferrari chase that feels like it was lifted from a Fast & Furious outtake. The film’s emotional core isn’t the mystery—it’s the Spitzes’ marriage. Their bickering is sharp and believable, the kind of sparring that only comes from years of shared history.
When Nick tries to impress Audrey with a cheap anniversary gift card, it’s both funny and painfully real. This is a couple that’s forgotten how to talk to each other, and the murder mystery becomes their unlikely therapy session.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsAdam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston’s Whirlwind Vacation: The Making of Murder Mystery
When Murder Mystery dropped on Netflix in June 2019, it marked the long-awaited reunion of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston—nearly 15 years after their last on-screen collaboration in Along Came Polly. This time, the duo traded rom-com tropes for a globetrotting whodunit, blending slapstick humor with a lavish European backdrop. But behind the film’s breezy 97-minute runtime lies a story of Netflix’s growing bet on Sandler, a director’s breakout moment, and a sequel that almost didn’t happen.
A Netflix Gamble on Sandler’s Star Power
By 2019, Adam Sandler was already a Netflix staple, having inked a four-film deal with the streaming giant in 2014. Murder Mystery, however, wasn’t part of that original pact. The film became Sandler’s sixth project with Netflix, counting earlier releases like The Meyerowitz Stories 
. The platform’s willingness to greenlight a standalone comedy-mystery—without the safety net of a pre-existing franchise—spoke to Sandler’s bankability, even outside his traditional Happy Madison Productions comfort zone.
The pairing with Jennifer Aniston added star power, though their chemistry wasn’t an immediate sell. The two had last shared the screen in 2006’s Rumor Has It…, and while their off-screen friendship was well-documented, their on-screen dynamic in Murder Mystery leaned into playful bickering rather than romantic tension. The film’s premise—a New York cop and his wife framed for murder during a European vacation—gave them ample room to riff on familiar tropes: Sandler’s man-child energy clashing with Aniston’s exasperated straight woman 
.
Kyle Newacheck’s Directorial Breakout
For director Kyle Newacheck, Murder Mystery was a career pivot. Best known for his work on Workaholics and Adam Ruins Everything, Newacheck had limited experience helming feature films. The project’s success—it became one of Netflix’s most-watched original movies of 2019—cemented his transition from TV comedy to big-screen directing .
The film’s tone balanced broad humor with a surprisingly lush setting. Shot across Italy, France, and Monaco, Murder Mystery leaned into the absurdity of its premise: a billionaire’s yacht, a room full of eccentric suspects (including Luke Evans as a dashing spy and Gemma Arterton as a femme fatale), and a murder that kicks off a chaotic chase across Europe. Newacheck’s direction kept the pacing tight, though critics noted the script’s reliance on Sandler and Aniston’s chemistry to paper over plot holes .
The Sequel That Almost Wasn’t
Despite mixed reviews—Murder Mystery holds a 44% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes —the film’s popularity with audiences was undeniable. By October 2019, less than four months after its release, Netflix announced a sequel, Murder Mystery 2 . The follow-up, which swapped European locales for a tropical island, doubled down on the original’s formula, adding Mark Strong to the cast as a new villain.
The rapid greenlight for a sequel underscored Netflix’s confidence in the franchise, even as some critics dismissed the first film as lightweight. For Sandler and Aniston, Murder Mystery proved their comedic partnership still had legs, paving the way for future collaborations like Murder Mystery 2 and the upcoming You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!.
The Real Mystery: Why It Worked
At its core, Murder Mystery thrived on simplicity. It wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel—just deliver a fun, star-driven romp with enough twists to keep viewers guessing. The film’s success also highlighted Netflix’s strategy of betting on familiar faces in low-stakes, high-entertainment projects. For Sandler, it was another win in his post-theatrical era, proving he could draw crowds without a theatrical release. For Aniston, it was a rare foray into pure comedy after years of dramatic roles.
The real question, then, isn’t who committed the murder—it’s why audiences keep coming back for more.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.