Agatha Christie’s fan-favorite detective, Hercule Poirot, has returned after a yearlong wait in “A Haunting in Venice,” directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. The movie, which was released about a week and a half ago, tells the story of a seemingly inexplicable murder in a haunted house and brings together a cast of iconic characters. Anyone who has watched Poirot’s other two films might have been, like me, a bit surprised at the supernatural nature of the film, as well as the dark, gloomy setting. Although Christie’s works are full of murder and mystery, “Murder on the Orient Express” and “A Death on the Nile” have a brighter look and a bit of a lighter tone. I knew what to expect from advertisements when I sat down to watch the film in theaters, but it took me a while to wrap my head around the logical, brilliant Poirot being mixed up with ghosts and séances.
The movie takes inspiration from Christie’s book “Hallowe’en Party,” which I have read, but I wasn’t able to draw much of a connection between the two besides both taking place on Halloween night. They hold little similarity aside from a few minute plot details and some of the character names from the book being used, such as Ariadne Oliver, played by Tina Fey, and Rowena Drake, played by Kelly Reilly. This aspect yet again separates the new Poirot film from the past two, which were based on Agatha Christie’s books by the same name and followed their plots closely.
Despite having different expectations for “A Haunting in Venice,” I still enjoyed every second of the movie. Poirot is his same meticulous, methodical self, a step ahead of everyone as always. In place of Bouc, his companion in the past two films, Poirot is accompanied by his bodyguard, Vitale Portfoglio, and his old friend, Ariadne Oliver, a mystery novelist. Michelle Yeoh plays Mrs. Reynolds, a famed medium, spectacularly and makes the audience question what is going on behind closed doors.
A common theme in Christie’s books and the movies based on her works is the very sudden reveal of the truth at the end of the story. Poirot collects clues throughout the mystery without revealing much, if anything, to the reader or audience. To some people, this is maddening and makes the movie seem boring, like nothing is happening or being discovered the entire time. I can understand why someone who doesn’t enjoy reading mysteries would not like this movie — it doesn’t spell anything out until the final moment. However, for those who like playing detective, “A Haunting in Venice” provides the perfect opportunity to do so. The ending isn’t easy to guess and some of the plot points seem contradictory at first, but in hindsight, the clues Poirot uses to reveal what is truly happening are in plain sight. Thus, even though this is the first Poirot film of the series to be only loosely based on an Agatha Christie book, Branagh does a wonderful job of building a story that is remarkably similar to one of her classic murder mysteries.
