Four Days Wonder: A Teenager’s Cozy-Turned-Messy Mystery

Is it worth your time?

If you're the kind of person who likes those breezy, black-and-white mysteries where the stakes feel high but the tone stays light, yeah, go for it. If you need grit, modern pacing, or logic that holds up under a microscope, stay away. This is pure, low-stakes comfort food.

The whole thing revolves around a kid who is essentially a proto-internet sleuth, just with physical books instead of Reddit threads. She’s obsessed with murder mysteries, and then—shocking—she finds herself in the middle of one. It’s the sort of plot that feels like it was written by someone who read a lot of Agatha Christie but wanted to make it slightly more annoying.

The pacing is all over the place. One minute we’re building tension, and the next, everyone is just kind of milling around the set. There's a scene in a parlor that lasts for an eternity, and I’m pretty sure the lead actress is just waiting for someone to remember their line. It’s actually kind of charming in a low-budget way.

I couldn't help but think about how different this feels compared to something like The Black Spider. Where that one tries to keep you on edge, this just wants you to hang out with a teenager who thinks she’s smarter than the police. And honestly? She’s mostly right.

Odd moments that stuck with me

• The way the characters walk into rooms looks like they’re waiting for a cue that never came.
• There’s a specific vase on a mantelpiece that shows up in almost every scene. I think it’s the real star.
• The dialogue is snappy, but sometimes it feels like they’re reading it off a billboard behind the camera.

It definitely isn't a masterpiece of the genre. It feels a bit like Helpmates in how it relies on the audience just being in a good mood to make the humor work. Sometimes it succeeds, sometimes you just stare at the screen wondering why someone made a specific choice about a hat.

The ending is… well, it ends. It doesn't really resolve everything, but it stops, which is basically the same thing for a movie like this. If you’re looking for something to put on while you fold laundry, you could do a lot worse. 🕵️‍♀️