Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears is a 2020 Australian mystery adventure film directed by Tony Tilse and starring Essie Davis as Phryne Fisher. It is based on the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries television series and the series of Phryne Fisher novels written by Kerry Greenwood.
After freeing a young Bedouin girl from her unjust imprisonment in Jerusalem, Phryne begins to unravel a decade-old mystery concerning priceless emeralds, ancient curses and the truth behind the suspicious disappearance of Shirin's forgotten tribe. British aristocrats whose lives were impacted by the events of World War I in Mandated Palestine become caught up in the mystery as well.
Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tropes:
- Advertised Extra: The film keeps the credits order from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, so Ashleigh Cummings receives third billing behind Essie Davis and Nathan Page, despite appearing for only a few minutes.
- Almost Kiss: Phryne and Jack almost kiss when Phryne is standing in the rain outside the warehouse, having just lost the killer. Jack comes up to her and reveals that he still has the amulet the killer was searching for. They start to lean in towards each other, but are interrupted by the arrival of Professor Linnaeus, who grumpily tells them that he has put out the fire.
- And the Adventure Continues: Ends with Phryne receiving a telegram telling her that the Maharajah has been murdered, and immediately setting off, with Jack still on the back of her camel.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Phyrne gatecrashes her own funeral by landing a plane on the lawn of Lofthouse Manor where her memorial is being held. She hadn't even known she had been declared dead.
- Big Damn Kiss: Jack and Phryne get one at the end. It's stunningly romantic and would also qualify as a Hollywood Kiss, save for the fact that it is also so sexually charged the celluloid nearly burns to ash.
- Bling-Bling-BANG!: Phryne wields a gilded and filigreed revolver with mother-of-pearl grips.
- Bound and Gagged; When she escapes from Montague's office, Phryne leaves a young British officer gagged and bound to a chair with items of her clothing.
- The Butler Did It: the perpetrator of the murders (although not all of the other skullduggery that is going on) turns out to be Crippins, the Lofthouse's extremely competent butler. He is also the real father of the younger Lofthouse brother Jonathan.
- Call-Back: After hearing of Phryne's supposed death, Dottie tells Hugh that "Miss Fisher saved me from the streets. And from illegal abortionists and Latvian anarchists and factory machines and Christmas murderers."
- On route to the memorial service Jack looks at Phryne's mugshots from "The Green Mill Murder"
- Phryne's fear of spiders brought up again.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase
- Clothing Combat: Phyrne throws her robe over the head of one of the policemen pursuing her in Jerusalem. By the time he manages to pull it off, she has vanished.
- Collapsing Lair: Phryne and Jack are attempting to return the emerald to the sarcophagus in the crypt. Jonathon Lofthouse is attempting to help them, but then Crippins—who has been revealed as the murderer—arrives and demands the emerald at gunpoint. As Jonathon drops the emerald into the coffin, he and Crippins get involved in a Gun Struggle. As they do so, an earthquake hits and the crypt and it starts to collapse. Phryne, Jack and Shirin are forced to flee. Phryne tries to go back for the other two, but Jack grabs her arm and pulls her clear as rocks fall and completely seal the crypt once again.
- Curse of the Pharaoh: The theft of the emerald from the titular "Crypt of Tears" is believed to have placed a curse on the thieves.
- Dangerous Deserter: Shirin's village was wiped out by three deserters from the British Army who sought to obtain the treasure of the crypt for themselves.
- Deadly Dust Storm: Shirin's village was buried beneath an unprecedented sandstorm which may have been the result of a curse. A second one threatens to engulf the village again while Phryne and company are attempting to return the emerald to the crypt.
- Demoted to Extra: Dotty, Hugh, Bert and Cec only appear in one scene, which explains why Dotty doesn't travel to London to attend Phyrne's funeral.
- Desert Bandits: A trio of desert bandits, who are Dangerous Deserters from the British Army, raid Shirin's village, kill everyone in it (apart from Shirin), and steal the emerald from the crypt.
- Doomed Hometown: Shirin's Bedouin village, as shown in flashback. It is Shirin's determination to reveal the truth of what happened to her village that drives much of the plot.
- Dramatic Thunder: Miss Fisher has just explaining to Inspector Robinson about the curse on the eponymous crypt when there is a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder and all of the lights in the warehouse go out.
- Even Evil Has Standards: After Sociopathic Soldier Captain Templeton killed everyone in the Bedouin village, his accomplice Sgt. Wilson returned, located the one the survivor, and guided her to safety.
- From Dress to Dressing: After Wilson is shot, Phryne pulls a shirt out of his pack and presses it down on the wound in an effort to staunch the bleeding.
- Handy Feet: Phryne uses her toes to pick up a dropped bullet in Sir Vincent Montague's office.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Jonathon Lofthouse pays for his crimes by holding Crippins at bay long enough for Phryne and the others to escape the Collapsing Lair, which then buries him and his opponent.
- Hero Stole My Bike: Phryne accidentally knocks a man off his bike while fleeing from the police in Jerusalem. She then grabs the fallen bike and rides off on it, promising to buy him a new one.
- Hiding in a Hijab: Phryne Fisher is doing this (rather badly) in Jerusalem at the beginning of the film.
- Human Notepad: After they discover the ruins of the Bedouin village, Phryne realise that Shirin's tribal tattoo is actually a map to the location of the Crypt of Tears
- The Jeeves: Absolutely nothing seems to faze Crippins, the Lofthouse family butler: from Phryne asking for Lord Lofthouse's car keys in the middle of the night, to Lord Lofthouse and his brother almost coming to blows in the ballroom, to Lord Lofthouse being arrested for murder. Part of the reason for this equanimity is that The Butler Did It.
- Love Theme: The Jack & Phryne Love Theme
is a sweeping, poignant orchestral piece that perfectly captures Jack and Phryne's romance. - Marriage of Convenience: Phryne reveals to Jack that she married the Maharajah to help him secure his kingdom while he was in love with another man.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While Phryne seems to believe in the curse upon the crypt, the far more down to earth Jack is skeptical. None of the events that happen are strictly supernatural, and rational explanations could be found for all of them, with only the timing being hard to explain.
- Mineral MacGuffin: 'The Eye of God'—the treasure everyone is searching for—is a massive emerald about the size of a loaf of bread.
- The Movie: Of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.
- New Old Flame: As is typical for the divine Miss Fisher, Professor Linnaeus is yet another former admirer of hers (who would like very much to be a current admirer) who was never mentioned in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. (This kind of thing happens all the time in the books as well.)
- Off Bridge, onto Vehicle: Phryne and Shirin escape from the Palestinian police by jumping off the top of tunnel on to a train that is passing underneath.
- The Precarious Ledge: When she is almost caught searching Sheikh Kahlil's room, Phryne hides by climbing on to the narrow ledge outside his window and pressing herself against the wall.
- Quicksand Sucks: While arguing with Jack in the desert, Phryne steps in the middle of a patch of quicksand that sucks her down to her shoulders in the time it takes Jack to turn around.
- Railroad Plot: One of the subplots (which provides a a possible motive for murder) is a deal brokered by Montague to sell the British-Palestinian Railway to Lord Lofthouse and Sheik Kahlil for a fraction of its real value, allowing them to make huge profit and scoring himself a hefty commission.
- Redemption Equals Death: Jonathon Lofthouse makes amends for his part in the theft of the emerald, and the massacre of the Bedouin village, by helping Phryne to return the jewel to the crypt. He then makes a Heroic Sacrifice to hold off Crippins while the others flee the Collapsing Lair.
- Romantic Rain: Phryne and Jack have an Almost Kiss in the pouring rain.
- Shirtless Scene: When Phryne gets trapped in quicksand, Jack strips off his shirt and uses it as a rope to pull her out. Phryne ends up collapsed on top of him, with her head on his naked chest.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Captain Templeton snapped and murdered everyone in the village while his partners were robbing the tomb.
- Treasure Is Bigger in Fiction: The MacGuffin is the 'Eye of God': an emerald approximately the size of a loaf of bread.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Throughout the movie, Phryne has a habit of concealing important objects down her cleavage, starting the scarab that she gives to Professor Linnaeus.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While Bert, Cec, Dot, and Hugh are Demoted to Extra, (verging on The Cameo) and Prudence gets a few scenes at Phryne's memorial and afterwards, Mr. Butler, Mac, and Jane are never mentioned.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: A carry over from the original series, Jack calls Phryne by her given name twice. Both times under emotional distress.
