Murder in Trinidad: A dusty, weird mystery that feels like a fever dream

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for 1930s detective yarns that don't take themselves too seriously. If you need tight pacing or a mystery that actually makes perfect sense, skip this and go watch Our Betters instead. You’ll probably hate it if you get annoyed by characters who act intentionally dim just to trick the bad guys.

There’s this weird, sticky heat to the whole movie. You can almost smell the humidity in the scenes. Nigel Bruce plays the detective, and he’s doing that thing where he stumbles around looking like he lost his car keys, only to reveal he’s actually ten steps ahead of everyone. It’s a bit of a cliché, but he makes it work. He’s got this goofy energy that makes you root for him even when he’s being a total nuisance.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Murder in Trinidad (1934) through its definitive frames.

Odd little details

• The dagger with the snake and crescent handle looks like it came from a garage sale, but the movie treats it like Excalibur.
• The lighting in the background of the hotel scenes is so inconsistent I thought the sun was changing positions every five seconds.
• I’m still not sure why half the people in the background are just standing there staring at walls while the main characters argue.

The whole thing feels like it was put together on a Friday afternoon. Some of the cuts are so sharp they practically give you whiplash. One second we are in a fancy office, and suddenly we’re in a dark alley with zero explanation of how we got there. It’s disorienting, but in a way that’s kind of fun if you’re tired of modern, over-polished editing.

There’s this one sequence involving a boat where you can clearly see someone off-camera signaling the actors to move. It didn’t ruin it for me, though. It just made me laugh. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Coiners' Game, where you can feel the crew just trying to get the scene in the can before the lights die.

If you’re looking for a profound mystery, you’ve come to the wrong place. This isn't a masterpiece. It’s just a weird, little detective movie that somehow landed in my queue. And honestly? I don't regret watching it. Sometimes you don't need art. You just need a guy in a pith helmet acting like an idiot while a snake-knife mystery unfolds in the background. 🐍