Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Produced by: Michael Green
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, Michelle Yeoh
Cert: 12
Run Time: 104 mins
Available on: Disney+
Widely celebrated detective Hercule Poirot, who is now retired and living in voluntary exile in Venice, joins a Halloween séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo when asked by an old friend. When one of the guests is murdered, Poirot dives into a sinister and paranormal world of secrets, lies and even ghosts.
"When a crime has been committed, I can, by application of order and method and the slow extinguishing of my own soul, find without fail or doubt, whodunit."
Hercule Poirot. Detective, murder mystery expert, an enigma. With three films directed by Kenneth Branagh, Agatha Christie’s character has seen many different crimes in his time, and seems to attract death wherever he goes - a simple train journey in Murder On The Orient Express, an Egyptian cruise in Death On The Nile and now, in retirement, in a haunted Venitian manor house.Â
While the plot of a Poirot novel and film is predictable - there’s an event or party, then a murder, something happens to trap the detective and the suspects there - the element of the supernatural in this film really brought it to life and added that third dimension.Â
The delivery of the spooky and tense tones within the film is on point, from the quality of the camera work and the effects to the acting and the set design. Everything is perfectly tied together in a gothic twist of cinematography, and despite knowing the golden rule of Poirot - there’s always a man behind the murder - it still manages to thrill and convince with the supernatural elements.
We follow author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) on her quest to get Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) out of a comfy retirement in Venice. Despite insisting he ‘doesn’t have friends’, Poirot attends a Halloween party for children, after which, a seance will be held for the mansion’s owner who wants to contact her lost daughter. As a sceptic, it becomes Poirot’s mission to disprove the existence of the supernatural. That mission, however, turns quickly into solving unexpected crimes to do so.
With an excellent cast, no performance sits below the others. Each character has their own story to tell, and their own reasons to be the murderer. With a suspect that is quite easy to identify at the beginning of the film, A Haunting In Venice delivers several surprising twists, even if you think you’ve solved the original crime, you are still presented with many different puzzle pieces to fit into the story along the way, and despite this, you can never quite say with certainty who did it and how without questioning yourself - not until it’s finally revealed at the very end.
The effects of the film are explicitly done, as is the set design. The lighting and general production of the film enhance the spooky feel and increase the tension massively by creating a fear of not knowing what’s coming. If you’re partial to a paranormal thriller or a whodunnit murder mystery, this is the film for you. It combines those elements well and still leaves room for the sarcastic remarks woven into Poirot’s French humour.
A Haunting In Venice would be a fitting end to a trilogy, however with the teaser regarding Poirot’s next adventure, I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of Branagh at the helm of this series. With plans for several more in the works, the only question left to answer is what mystery will we see on screen next? And I suppose…Whodunnit?
If you haven’t already, make sure to give A Haunting In Venice a watch on Disney+ - no premier access needed - and let us know what you think! Give Flare Magazine a follow on social media too to keep up with the new films, music and TV shows coming out - get in touch if you’re releasing something new!
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Words by Chloe Pollard.
Images courtesy of Disney+.