The most shocking thing about Kenneth Branagh’s second Poirot outing isn’t finding out who the murderer is at the end and whodunnit, but the most shocking part remains the film’s opening. The film opens with a flashback to the First World War where we get to learn the origins of Hercule Poirot’s famous moustache. It’s quite possibly the most ridiculously unnecessary opening to a film and yet Branagh decides to open the film that way. Learning the origins of Poirot’s moustache was certainly not what I had on my bingo card for the latest adaptation for Death on the Nile.
Unfortunately, that is where all the surprises in the film end. The rest of the film is unexciting and offers nothing in the way of suspense. Based on Agatha Christie’s beloved 1937 novel, Kenneth Branagh returns as both director and world-renowned director Hercule Poirot for another outing, this time with another all-star ensemble cast. Beyond Branagh himself, the cast, however, don’t offer much excitement or spectacle to the film, which really isn’t helped by the fact that it’s blindingly obvious right from the start of the film who the murderer is meaning the rest of the film is entirely void of any suspense.
The film doesn’t offer too much in the way of excitement but do the special features? Some of the featurettes offer an interesting look behind the scenes at the making of the film however the deleted scenes feel rather lacklustre and an empty addition to pad out the special features included on the disk.
It’s interesting to learn about the production and some of the design elements of the film in the featurettes. For instance, how they spent a whole year building the set for the boat in a wealth of detail, including many of the interiors. And the end product does look very good in the film, it’s just a shame the CGI landscape of the Nile looks so fake and horrible to look at. One exciting part about the special features though is that it can be rather entertaining to see Branagh directing sequences of the film in full Poirot get up including the moustache
The deleted scenes themselves are very short, even as short as forty seconds long and they offer very little excitement. There are a decent number of deleted scenes so perhaps they would have worked better as an extended cut rather than watching each minute-long scene in isolation as on their own, they’re not especially scintillating.
Special Features included on the physical release include:
Featurettes
- Death on the Nile: Novel to Film – Explore the new vision for Agatha Christie’s classic novel Death on the Nile, and how Kenneth Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green collaborated with Christie’s estate to bring a new twist to this story of love and murder.
- Agatha Christie: Travel Can Be Murder – The story behind the book connects with Christie’s own love of travel, and especially Egypt and its secrets. Her legacy continues through her family and new generations of filmmakers and actors, all at once contributing to the immortality of her novels.
- Design on the Nile – The setting, the costumes, the photography, all contribute to the Agatha Christie touch. We take a fun tour of this “ship of suspects” and learn details about the overall look and design of everything from the characters to the environment.
- Branagh/Poirot – Kenneth Branagh is a one-of-a-kind artist who can switch hats with exceptional skill, playing Poirot one moment and directing the next. This piece pays tribute to Branagh’s ability to stay connected to his cast and creative team through it all.
Deleted Scenes
- The Market
- Poirot’s Cabin
- Rosalie and Bouc Outside Temple
- Windlesham Jogging
- Poirot Discusses Case
- Poirot and Bouc Approach Jackie
- Confronting Bouc and the Otterbournes
- Poirot Orders Books
Death on the Nile arrives on Digital, DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on April 13.
DIRECTOR: Kenneth Branagh
STARS: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey, Annette Bening
RUNTIME: 127 minutes
COUNTRY: U.S.A
Film Rating: 
