A Haunting In Venice (Kenneth Branagh, 2023)
A Haunting In Venice is the latest adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel by Sir Kenneth Branagh.
It follows the very successful Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and its COVID delayed (and financially less successful) follow-up Death on the Nile (2022).
I didn’t care for the first, since I have fond memories of the far superior 1974 version, directed by Sidney Lumet, and not only starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, but also Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman and Sean Connery, to name but a few Legends of Hollywood.
However, I quite enjoyed Branagh’s version of Death on the Nile, as a good clean fun way of spending a lazy Sunday afternoon.
So I had high hopes for this one. Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party was only adapted once before, as a TV movie starring David Suchet, and this feature film marks the first time the story has been adapted for the big screen.
Adapted by Michael Green (who also worked on the previous two movies) and relocated from London to Venice, the movie takes place in 1947 and sees Poirot retired and somewhat depressed after the horrors of WWII.
One day, he is approached by famous writer Ariadne Oliver, who invites him to a seance, hoping Poirot wil disprove Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), as she conjures up the ghost of the daughter of Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), who killed herself the year before.
During and after the seance strange things happen and (as you can probably guess) before long the retired Poirot is playing detective again. All the guests have to stay inside the once luxurious but now downtrodden mansion, while Poirot (and we, as viewers) get to know all the interesting supporting characters a little better.
I’m not going to spoil the plot any further, as finding out about the characters and their particulars is part of the fun.
All the actors are quite good, including Branagh himself as Poirot, and Jamie Dorman and Jude Hill (who were both in Branagh’s Belfast) are worth a mention too as the family doctor and his son, who like Poirot, happens to be a bit of a wise nose.
Visually it’s quite dark and moody, but it also feels a little bland, it’s not quite the (trick or) treat for the eyes that it could have been.
A Haunting in Venice is better than Disney’s recent A Haunted Mansion, but not quite as good as last year’s See How They Run, which wasn’t based on Agatha Christie, but was definitely inspired by her legendary work.
In the end A Haunting in Venice earns its three stars as a pretty solid detective movie, with some thriller and horror elements, but it’s not quite the homerun I was hoping for.
Oh well, there is still plenty of material left for another try…
Note: The movie is released later this week in large parts of the world.