Mystery Island: Winner Takes All (2025)

Solving two murders while partaking in a murder mystery party all while trapped on a deserted island sounds familiar right? But no, it’s not an Agatha Christie novel. It’s Hallmark’s newest mystery movie in their “Mystery Island” series. Since this is movie number two, I do have to say that the series has a unique premise that calls back to the original, noir, locked room mysteries. If you didn’t see the original “Mystery Island” (2023), worry not. The two films interconnect in characters and location, but the games are unique to each movie. However, I do suggest going back and watching it as well, since it was also a really great film. This time we find that Mystery Island might be bought by a developer and needs an excellent game to entice their investors into letting them continue their murder mystery tours.

Honestly though, if my murder mystery island continually kept having real deaths of guests, I’d consider selling it and never looking back. I mean it seems to be asking for trouble to keep inviting murder-obsessed groups of people to a small, unpopulated island. You’re bound to have one (or two) bad apples in the group who take things a bit too far. Plus, you can only call the mainland for police assistance so many times before they shut your operation down, right? But I digress.

So how do they keep the island from being sold? They create a social media game to win an all expenses paid trip with a guest and the chance to win some money if you solve the weekend-long game. Sounds easy enough for the group of winners who quickly solve the riddle and arrive for their newest game. When a detective, a podcaster, a famous mystery writer, and their guests descend on Mystery Island, the game begins. But when the house manager gets blown up just as an actor is pretending to die, the game becomes all too real. Can Emelia and Jason solve the murder before the guests leave on Monday? Was the house manager even the real target? How are these supposed strangers connected enough to want to murder each other? There’s so many questions and not much time to find all the answers.

Really though, I don’t want to ruin the whole movie by giving away answers, but this one was personally one of my favorites just for the locked room feels and the intricately convoluted solution. I love when you can’t see the ending coming until it’s revealed. There is another murder along the way just to keep the guests on their toes, but there’s also betrayal, heartbreak, hidden love, sexual tension, and all the other great parts of a good story. It makes for a more movie-theater feeling than a straight-to-TV Hallmark movie, which is great to see in today’s world of streaming.

Also, if you’re a Hallmark fan (like me) you might be excited to see who is portraying mystery writer Cassandra…The incomparable Kristin Booth! I watched the “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” series on repeat and it was so fun to see her playing a completely different character. She’s snarky, conceited, and a little bit evil…Is she the killer? Watch on to find out!

My final review: five out of five! Everything was beautifully done. The scenery of Mystery Island (filmed in Panama) will have you searching for your next adventure. The cast was completely believable (in the sometimes over-the-top way of all Hallmark movies). And the murders and solution was woven so well into the movie, the world built during the first film, and the characters’ arcs. I’d suggest it to all mystery lovers!