A Talent for Murder review: Alden Ehrenreich gives sexy menace in this Patricia Highsmith-inspired thriller

Carol.

Deep Water.

Strangers on a Train.

The Talented Mr.

Ripley.

American author Patricia Highsmith has inspired filmmakers for decades with her lurid tales of sex, deception, and murder.

Now, she herself is a character in such a thriller, thanks to A Talent For Murder.

Adapted for the screen by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith from her own play, Switzerland , this film imagines what might have happened if Highsmith's biggest fan got the chance to meet his hero.

Enter Edward Ridgeway ( Tony winner Alden Ehrenreich), a handsome young man with carefully coiffed dark hair, a strong jaw, a pressed shirt, and polished glasses, but little poise.

On a train through Switzerland, he seems like he stumbled out of the first chapter of a Tom Ripley novel, sure to be felled or corrupted by the iconic con man.

Now, the girl.

Clementine Harriet Balfour ( Olivia Cooke ) is pretty, with a bouncy brunette bob, and a fashion sense that hints at an old-money family and independent ambitions.

They meet as strangers on a train, but are sure to cross paths again in the small Swiss village where she's visiting a miserly dowager aunt (Juliet Stevenson), and he's tasked with getting Highsmith to sign a contract to write a sixth Ripley novel.

Director Anton Corbijn expertly lays out a spring-loaded trap that's sure to capture the interest of Highsmith fans.