'The Afterparty' is a fun take on the whodunnit storyline

There's been a tragic death at a high school reunion afterparty, and the mysterious case needs to be solved by the incredibly casual detective.

'The Afterparty' stars Tiffany Haddish as Detective Danner, who, alongside John Early’s Detective Culp, arrive at the messy remains of an afterparty gone wrong. One of the attendees has been murdered, and it's up to this task force to solve the crime. Danner takes it upon herself to interview each of the (main) house guests separately in the hopes of coming to a conclusion before her Chief of Police arrives at the crime scene.

Time and time again, a whodunnit creation comes out of the woodwork of Hollywood, with audiences scrambling to see it. The most recent movie examples include Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc in ‘Knives Out’ and Kenneth Brannagh’s take on Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, even in 2021 there were TV offerings like 'The White Lotus' and 'Ony Murders In The Building' (all of which have sequels about to be released).

The most unique part about 'The Afterparty' is how each episode takes on a different theme. While still remaining a comedy/mystery series at its core, all eight episodes explore each character's individual and unique way of telling their side to the story. For example, Ben Schwartz’s character Yasper is a rose-tinted glasses kind of guy, meaning that his account of the night's events turns his episode into a musical comedy with catchy ‘High School Musical’-esque dance sequences and numbers. Ilana Glazer’s Chelsea, meanwhile, has an account of the night that more closely resembles a horror movie. 

While taking the viewer on an eight-episode wild goose chase, this is a very clever way of keeping our attention in check. With each episode becoming more elaborate and "out there" as Danner interviews each of the characters, the regurgitation of the same story over and over again becomes less of a slog. 

With such a unique hook in hand, we would expect nothing less from the overall series creator and writer Chris Miller. The visionary director has delivered memorable cinematic experiences to audiences in the past, including ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’, ’21 Jump Street’ and 'The LEGO Movie', and his tongue-in-cheek stamp remains present here too.

Having said that, it's difficult for the viewer to truly believe that Haddish is a Police Detective. Her nonchalant way of approaching the character, while likeable, doesn't come across as very believable (although she does get a backstory later in the season). Similarly, the fact that only some of the suspects are deserving of getting one-on-one interview time with the Detective doesn't really make sense - shouldn't everyone be interviewed? Even a quick montage would have been enough. However, should you glaze over these slight niggles, you should find yourself enjoying the commotion of the series.

Thanks to this unique way of replaying the story, as well as the addition of Dave Franco, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao and many more familiar faces, it all results in an easy to watch addition into the whodunnit genre that will keep you guessing until the very end.

'The Afterparty' begins on Apple TV+ on Friday, January 28.