Surrealist artists including René Magritte and Salvador Dalí become suspects in a grisly murder investigation in the new Flemish series This Is Not a Murder Mystery, airing on U&Drama and streaming on Channel 4. Set in 1936, the show opens with an English aristocrat hosting a private exhibition of avant-garde artists on the cusp of fame. After a wild party, Magritte awakens next to a dead woman whose head is wrapped in a shroud, a ghoulish recreation of his own painting The Lovers.
Detectives DCI Thistlethwaite and DC Quant arrive to lock down the estate, but Magritte—played by the striking newcomer Pierre Gervais—insists on clearing his name. As the exhibition approaches, more theatrical murders occur, each paying twisted homage to the masterpieces of the artists present. The show blends fact and fantasy, incorporating real surrealist works and biographical details, such as Magritte’s childhood trauma over his mother’s death.
The narrative positions Magritte as an amateur sleuth, interpreting the crime scenes through his artistic eye. He introduces DC Quant to repoussoir, a painting technique that creates depth, arguing that police miss background detail. "Artists speak a specific language – let me be your interpreter," he says, despite being the chief suspect. The series revels in its European pretentiousness, offering a refreshing alternative to British TV tropes.
The cast is strikingly assembled: Iñaki Mur plays a rake-thin, tremulous Dalí, while Florence Hall portrays the ethereally beautiful war photographer Lee Miller, who carries a glass revolver and hand-chiselled salt bullets. The show’s appeal lies in its irresistible gloss amid the grisliness, studded with artistic Easter eggs and sumptuous 1930s decor. It is cosy crime elevated by surrealist flair, promising a visually arresting and intellectually playful mystery.
