'Murderville' Hilariously Improvises 'Who Killed Santa'

Photo: Netflix

by Addison Hemingway
Netflix recently released a new Christmas movie, “Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Special” directed by Laura Murphy and starring Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph and Jason Bateman. This hour-long comedy combines murder, Christmas and improv for a hilariously haywire holiday experience. The story centers around Terry Seattle, played by Arnett, a holiday-hating detective who must find out who killed Santa Claus and save Christmas with the help of his two trainees played by Rudolph and Bateman.
 
The premise of the movie is hilariously creative: every actor was given a script except the two guest stars. Bateman and Rudolph were simply led onto the set blindfolded and told to improvise. Rudolph explained: “I actually love it because I don’t have to learn any lines.” Following the evidence and Arnett’s’ lead, the two guest stars must find the killer and save Christmas, a difficult task when given absolutely zero information before being dropped on set.
 
Arnett, Bateman and Rudolph are called to City Hall to investigate the scene of a murder. The victim: Hall of Fame football player, Johnny Blaze, dressed as Santa Claus. The only clues left behind were a smudged name tag and the murder weapon: a sharpened candy cane. Bateman, Rudolph and Arnett worked their way through the witnesses at city hall until they came up with three main suspects. Blaze’s miserable assistant, a sportscaster who owed Blaze a large sum of money, and a business partner who felt betrayed. Bateman and Rudolph were still unsure of who the murderer was and they were running short on time, so to make things even more chaotic, Pete Davidson was dropped onto the set with 13 minutes left in the special. Witnessing Rudolph and Bateman scramble to explain the investigation to Davidson in 15 seconds was comedy gold. With the spirit of Christmas in the balance, the three guest stars announced who they believed the murderer was.
 
“Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery” is a super funny, new kind of Christmas movie. It’s a refreshing and novel experience to actually laugh at a holiday movie. The classic Hallmark movies we enjoy every season have their chuckle-worthy moments, but the comedic genius of Rudolph and Arnett made a genuinely funny Christmas special.
 
Netflix also has six episodes of “Muderville” available for streaming. Each episode features a new guest star who must improvise their way through a murder investigation and they are all hilarious.

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