For decades, audiences have seen a new type of film franchise where each instalment sees recurring characters interact on different adventures – namely, the cinematic universe. While James Bond and Star Wars helped to establish the appeal of returning characters in different adventures, Marvel and DC have monopolised this trend in recent years with their ever-expanding superhero cinematic universes. However, in 2017 (six years after directing the MCU’s Thor), British director Kenneth Branagh mentioned that he was keen on establishing his own cinematic universe amid an age of action-dominated film franchises: involving the adventures written by Agatha Christie, which he looks set to cement with the latest adventure of his Hercule Poirot film series.
Featuring an ensemble cast that includes Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly and young Belfast star Jude Hill, A Haunting in Venice sees Belgian detective Hercule Poirot living as a recluse in post-War Venice. On Halloween, he is approached by old friend and mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver (Fey) to attend a seance performed by medium Joyce Reynolds (Yeoh). He attends despite his reluctance, but his deductive side quickly comes out when a guest is murdered.
Loosely adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party, the release of A Haunting in Venice comes only a year after Death on the Nile, which experienced moderate financial success but its promotion was marred by controversies involving two of its stars. But this instalment has taken a slightly different creative route in comparison to its previous instalments – Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile are among Christie’s most prolific novels, so their familiarity with fans helped to establish Branagh’s take on the famous detective, as well as Michael Green’s screenwriting style. Therefore, A Haunting in Venice dares to expand Branagh’s Poirot cinematic universe with a less famous yet more sinister narrative to disrupt the conventional murder mystery.
Now that WWI is over, Poirot is living a life of solitude yet is constantly approached by clients seeking his help. So when old friend Ariadne asks for his help to deduce the abilities of famed medium Reynolds, his reluctance barely conceals his curiosity as to the existence of ghosts and psychic phenomena – until someone ends up dead. As the film progresses, slight jump scares and odd occurrences test Poirot’s scepticism about the supernatural while creating this thriller’s necessary twists and turns. However, the combination of predictable plot devices and the obscure camera angles and effects exude a sense of turbulence that feeds Poirot’s increasingly uneasy suspicions. These are exacerbated as he jumps between the supporting characters, so there is no room to ponder potential motives and subsequently encourage any tension. Even when the evening continues to test the characters, the drama that should have come from a mixed bag of characters, which includes a former lover, a religious assistant, a grieving mother and a fragile doctor, doesn’t brew to its full strength.
The combination of a murder mystery with a ghost story, especially in Venice (with occasional nods to Nicolas Roeg’s psychological horror Don’t Look Now), makes A Haunting in Venice an atypical sleuth story. Branagh delicately balances his role as lead actor and director so he doesn’t overly dominate the film. While he focuses on ensuring the tempramental story keeps apace, John Paul Kelly’s production design, Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score and Haris Zambarloukos’s cinematography encompass the mysterious yet haunted ambience of 1940s Venice to host the myriad of cast performances.
For the most part, the ensemble cast is impressive (including a small reunion with Branagh and Belfast actors Hill and Dornan) as Green’s screenplay incorporates the vast emotional spectrum of its characters, dealing with issues such as unconventional parenting, classism, post-war trauma and even addressing one’s mental health to enable a degree of empathy among the ensemble. For instance, Dornan and Yeoh evoke pain from unhealed wounds from the war while Kelly Reilly’s fragility brilliantly paints her as the traumatised Rowena Drake. In contrast, Fey is on hand to bring some light relief as Poirot’s sidekick (replacing Tom Bateman’s Bouc from the previous two instalments), pitting her arrogance against the understated detective, who finds himself at odds with his own abilities with his sanity in check. Kudos, however, must be given to young Hill, whose unsettling performance as young Leopold brings the calibre of performances to another level. The cast is easily the film’s biggest pull and is easily its saving grace.
It may not be as glamorous as Death on the Nile or Orient Express, but Branagh’s third outing as Poirot is a different yet solid instalment to a promising cinematic universe. But the film’s general lack of charisma and smarts fail to lift this whodunit into the same range as Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc mysteries.
A Haunting in Venice is in UK cinemas on 15 September.
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Director: Kenneth Branagh, Michael Green
Stars: Kyle Allen, Kenneth Branagh, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, Michelle Yeoh
Runtime: 103 minutes
Country: USA
