‘Murder Mindfully’ Netflix Review: An Interesting Premise Marred By A Soulless Climax

There have been many shows and movies in the last few years with the lead characters breaking the fourth wall. This was popularized by Fleabag, and ever since, many filmmakers have adapted this kind of storytelling across genres, be it family dramas or fantasy fiction. Murder Mindfully is a German Netflix original released on the platform on October 31, 2024. This is a dark comedy about an accidental murder and its extensive cover-up. The show has eight episodes, and it is based on the book of the same name by German author Karsten Dusse.

A workaholic lawyer, Björn Diemel, is requested by his wife to make time for his daughter Emily after he missed her 4th birthday party. Björn works for a law firm and handles the mafia ganglord Dragan Sergowicz and his legal businesses. He is a highly experienced defense attorney responsible for acquitting the men who work for Dragan. Dragan and his men overwhelm him almost daily, and he is the reason behind Björn’s dwindling work-life balance. On his wife’s suggestion, he takes up ‘mindfulness’ coaching from a popular life coach, Joschka Breitner. Björn is initially skeptical, but ‘Mindfulness’ coaching works wonders on him. The execution of these methods slowly changes his personal life; however, Dragan remains a constant burden. In a bid to save his client from a possible arrest, he drives Dragan in his car’s trunk to the mafia don’s riverside vacation home. His four-year-old daughter Emily joins him on their trip, but she is unaware of her father’s dealings. Dragan accidentally dies in the trunk of the car due to lack of oxygen. Björn’s refusal to take him out of the car trunk is a direct result of his need to spend time with his daughter. Since Dragan is a most wanted mafia ganglord, his men start looking for him. The local police are also seeking Dragan, and to track him, they are tailing Björn. Will Björn’s mindfulness methods help him to get out of the mess? Is Björn smart for creating a false narrative about Dragan? Is there a mole in Dragan’s gang?

Talking about the pros of the show Murder Mindfully, the premise and the build-up created by the writers and the directors are fantastic. Written by Anneke Janssen, Michael Kenda, and Doron Wisotzky, they have done a great job of setting up a narrative that has Björn at the center of this colossal mess, where he ends up getting out of the sticky situations after the death of his client. The initial setup has Dragan’s men questioning him about their boss’s current location. Björn comes up with plausible scenarios that are fun to watch until they become repetitive. This narrative is copied and pasted throughout the show. Halfway into Murder Mindfully, the rehashing makes it exhausting. There was no element of surprise anymore as a lot of subplots became predictable. Björn’s habit of using mindfulness techniques suddenly turns into him gaslighting everybody around him, making the rest of the characters question their reality. 

The stories he develops as the show progresses become outlandish and make us wonder how the makers created such dim-witted supporting characters who were unable to catch on to Björn’s lies. It was awful of the showmakers to dumb down such characters just to make the lead come across as smarter. There is also the narrative of Björn getting away with the crimes he committed and not being held accountable for them. The underlying messaging of the Murder Mindfully is Björn finding freedom after getting rid of his client. However, the sense of liberty came with a cost. There were several subplots that were not explored well by the writers. The subplot about the police officers going after Dragan and Björn to nab both fell flat. The lack of intrigue and tension made the show bland after a point. Björn breaking the fourth wall does not make the show interesting, and it becomes borderline buffoonery. 

The biggest drawback of Murder Mindfully is the climax. The buildup until the sixth episode is gripping and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. The writers lose the plot soon after, which leads to the ending being rushed. It lacks the nuance of the initial premise. The ending is just random, which personally made me angry and did not make the setup exciting enough for the next season. A dark comedy such as this one should have a delicious ending that would make the audience really want the next season. The random revelations in the end had no impact on the lead character or his plans since then. The humor in the writing also dwindled in the second half of the show, which is sad, as the basis for Murder Mindfully is the unforeseen situation Björn gets himself into. 

At times the show will remind the audience of The King’s Speech, especially the portions where the life coach guides him through difficult situations. The life coach throwing away standard practices and asking Björn to choose out-of-the-box methods to deal with his personal and professional situations is not a fresh approach. It partly felt like an unnecessary therapy session that no one asked for. There are also elements of the Coen Brothers’ cult classic film Fargo. The initial matter snowballing into a situation that gets out of hand is a classic Fargo trademark. However, Murder Mindfully does not come close to these two critically acclaimed films, which were lauded for the great performances by the actors in them. Since this is a dark comedy, all the loose ends need to be tied. Sadly, that does not happen in this show, as there are plenty of plot holes that are hard to ignore. The direction cannot be appreciated because it is affected by the shaky screenplay. Also, Björn not being caught or hurt throughout the length of the show is quite impossible to believe. 

The performances of the lead and supporting actors somehow kept the show afloat for some time. Tom Schilling as the notorious lawyer Björn Diemel is brilliant. However, his character is one-note, with little to no shades of gray given to him. One cannot be cheering for him as he commits crime after crime. The rest of the cast is forgettable because there is no depth given to any of them. Dragan’s henchmen were loyal, but to put the spotlight on Björn and not them in the story is a bad decision. Murder Mindfully would have been an absolute banger of a show if the makers had not lost the plot. The premise was brilliant, but the show failed to live up to it by the end.