Netflix has acquired the rights to Mindhorn outside the UK.

The new comedy film, written by and starring Julian Barratt and Simon Farnaby, will be in UK cinemas from May 5th and is now set to have its Netflix launch on May 12th.

For any of you who are unfamiliar with Mindhorn (and who clearly haven’t visited The Velvet Onion recently!) here’s a synopsis:

Richard Thorncroft (Barratt) is a washed-up actor who found fame on TV in the 1980s playing Mindhorn – a detective from the Isle of Man with a robotic eye. He is now well past his heyday and struggling to get acting work. However, when a delusional killer phones the Isle of Man police saying “I’ll call the police station tomorrow at 4pm and if I’m not speaking to Detective Mindhorn in person, more people are going to die,” the actor is enlisted to take the killer’s next call and lure him into custody. Thorncroft of course sees the potential for publicity and sets off in the hope of using the situation to launch a comeback.

Along with Barratt and Farnaby, the film also stars Andrea Riseborough, Essie Davis, Russell Tovey, Richard McCabe, David Schofield, Nicholas Farrell, Jessica Barden, Robin Morrissey, Harriet Walter, Simon Callow, Kenneth Branagh and Steve Coogan.

Mindhorn is a Scott Free Films production in association with Baby Cow Productions for BBC Films, Isle of Man Films, Pinewood Pictures and BFI.