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Exclusive: Hans Herbots on Creating The Wild and Surreal World of This Is Not A Murder Mystery
Hans Herbots’ This Is Not a Murder Mystery, the Belgian-English language television miniseries, finally premiered on OTT on June 26.
Set in the extravagant world of the 1930s, the series blends murder, mystery, comedy and surrealism into one stylish narrative. It follows a group of some of history’s most celebrated Surrealist artistes, including young versions of Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Man Ray, Lee Miller and Pablo Picasso, who find themselves trapped inside a lavish mansion when a mysterious serial killer begins targeting the guests.
As paranoia grows and secrets unravel, the artistes must navigate a world where reality and imagination constantly blur. The series stars Pierre Gervais, Iñaki Mur, Florence Hall, Frank Bourke and Mike Hoffmann in pivotal roles. For director Hans Herbots, creating this unusual world was one of the biggest creative challenges of the project.
He told us, “The biggest challenge in making This Is Not a Murder Mystery was creating our own universe, populated by figures everyone knows, and running with it. The suspension of disbelief had to be pushed to the limit, which was an incredibly creative starting point for a director, perfect for unleashing yourself completely. It was a joy to find, together with the actors, the right balance between drama, the surreal, and the comical.”
Herbots revealed that the visual language of the series drew inspiration from some of cinema’s most distinctive filmmakers while also staying rooted in the works of the Surrealist artists themselves.
He continued, “We drew inspiration from the work of Baz Luhrmann, The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge were never far from our minds during prep, but also from Wes Anderson and Kenneth Branagh with Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. And of course, the works of our own artists were an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The blend of all these influences gave the series something truly distinctive.”
One of the show’s biggest highlights is its elaborate production design, costumes and makeup, all of which help recreate the larger-than-life personalities of these legendary artists. According to Herbots, every look was carefully crafted through months of experimentation and fine-tuning.
Talking about the painstaking process behind the costumes and makeup, he shared, “The costumes and makeup in this series are a story of their own: it was the first time I saw characters being sculpted through countless tests, the forehead of Magritte had to be smaller, Picasso’s nose bigger, the wave in Man Ray’s hair was difficult to capture. Sheila’s cut, Lee Miller’s style, the iconic look of Lord James… all choices that evolved in the months leading up to the shoot, step by step helping to bring the characters to life.”
He added that recreating the 1930s meant every visual detail had to be intentional, no matter how small.
“That’s the beauty of making a series set in the past: everything you see on screen is a choice. From the smallest prop to a character’s scarf, shoes, or socks, details that help tell the story. Each one had to be discussed in depth.”
This is Not a Murder Mystery is streaming on Lionsgate Play.
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