Netflix’s The Party delivers a high-stakes whodunit set against the backdrop of wealth, secrets, and social pretence.
The premise is simple yet effective: A young heir, Akinbobola, known as Bobo (played by Kunle Remi), falls to his death during his birthday bash. It’s an act that appears accidental at first glance but quickly spirals into a murder investigation.
With an ensemble of friends, exes, tenants, and family members as suspects, the series sets itself up to unravel a tangled web of motives and betrayals.
What unfolds is a stylish but uneven three-part series that wants to echo the likes of Knives Out, The Residence or Broadchurch, but often struggles to keep its own story coherent.
Intrigue without impact
The mystery at the centre of The Party is strong enough to hold interest, and the show certainly tries to generate suspense through interrogations, flashbacks, and revelations. Yet despite the surface-level tension, much of the emotional or psychological depth is missing.
Bobo, the deceased around whom the drama orbits, is barely introduced before his death. When he does appear in flashbacks, his presence feels fragmented.
As the centrepiece of the story, viewers deserve a better understanding of who Bobo was, what shaped him, and why so many people might have wanted him gone. Instead, he becomes a narrative prop, not a character with weight.
A cast of archetypes
The ensemble features all the usual suspects of the murder mystery genre: the jealous wife, the scheming mistresses, the overbearing father, and the enigmatic tenants. Unfortunately, most of them are reduced to tropes rather than fleshed-out individuals.
Take the detectives, for instance. One chews gum, another offers dramatic glances, and a third fiddles with a pen while psychoanalysing suspects.
One would think that when the the female officer fixates on the ring on one of Bobo’s friend’s finger, it would lead us somewhere; a revelation, something, but no, we are made to focus on things that don’t actually have deeper meaning in the end, well except the white cloth that represents a foretold prophecy.
These traits seem like placeholders for actual personality. Viewers are told these are elite officers, yet their methods are often superficial, and their interpersonal dynamics, which could add levity or insight, are underdeveloped.
Even Kelechi Udegbe, a capable actor with a knack for eccentric roles, is stuck playing a detective whose only standout trait is standing up for his colleague.
Then there’s Bobo’s circle, supposed longtime friends whose interactions rarely go beyond clichés. Characters are introduced rapidly and without much framing, making it difficult for viewers to remember who is who or feel invested in their stakes.
Moments that should carry emotional impact, betrayals, confessions, and confrontations, fall flat because we’ve barely gotten to know the people involved.
The motive question that never gets answered
Perhaps the most frustrating part of The Party is its ending. Throughout the episodes, the script goes out of its way to give multiple characters plausible motives, including jealousy, rivalry, betrayal, and financial greed.
These suspects are interrogated, pressured, and shown in flashbacks that tease out their secrets. But when the actual killer is revealed, someone with no clear build-up, no visible tension with the victim, and no prior sense of purpose, it feels like the air is sucked out of the room.
The audience is left wondering why. Why would this person, a subordinate colleague, kill Bobo? There’s no emotional payoff, no context, no attempt to explain the killer’s psyche.
It’s as though the show dropped a twist purely for shock value or to fulfil Apostle’s prophecy without laying the groundwork for it. In a genre where motive is often more compelling than the act itself, this is a major letdown.
While one could interpret the ending as a commentary on how betrayal can come from the least expected quarters, perhaps even without clear reason, The Party doesn’t commit to that idea strongly enough. The ambiguity doesn’t feel intentional; it feels like a thread the writers forgot to tie.
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The style vs. substance dilemma
Visually, The Party makes an effort. Camera transitions, zooms, and creative framing suggest an awareness of the murder mystery genre’s stylistic playbook. Surveillance footage, dramatic POVs, and lingering shots are sprinkled throughout. But much like the plot, the style doesn’t always serve the story.
The constant surveillance angle, for instance, is repeatedly used, yet no character in the show ever refers to the CCTV system or uses it to uncover new information.
It becomes a gimmick rather than a tool of investigation. Likewise, some of the scene blocking and transitions feel forced or disjointed, sometimes making key information harder to follow.
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