A Haunting in VeniceA love for meaningful work can resurrect one from death. A Haunting in Venice is a psychological horror movie adapted from a story by Agatha Christie titled "Hallowe'en Party". It features her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), who has since retired and is living in Venice, abstaining from every invitation to once again take up the mantle of his erstwhile profession. One day, an old acquaintance and mystery novelist named Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) invites Poirot to attend a séance being held on Halloween at the rumored-to-be haunted residence of a one-time opera singer named Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), who longs to reunite with her late daughter, Alicia (Rowan Robinson). Can such a stage be enough to tempt Poirot to return to his former role as a superior investigator?
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Following up on his adaptations of a pair of other Christie mysteries--Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022)--A Haunting in Venice bucks the trend of its more grandiose predecessor by stripping down a lot of the bloat from his past efforts. Although A Haunting in Venice is not without stars, it feels less like a distraction here than in the earlier films, where it became easier to identify characters by their actors rather than who they were portraying. Furthermore, all of Branagh's adaptations are technically gorgeous, although A Haunting in Venice aims to create a sinister setting by way of multitudinous shadows, water-damaged architecture, and other creepy elements, rather than offer up the vast and lush vistas of Death on the Nile. These are very different movies which are nevertheless connected by their protagonist, and as the series progresses, it begins to resemble a multifaceted gemstone--different approaches with each iteration. Despite Poirot's reputation as a world-famous sleuth, he is consistently reluctant to get roped into pretty much every one of the murders in each of these films. This has much to do with Branagh's way of portraying his hero's past as a brilliant but (yes) haunted man--by two World Wars, the loss of his wife, and the grave responsibility for bringing murderers to justice...or at least being the one to determine what is right and wrong. As such, Poirot has given up the occupation, and has even gone so far as to hire a bodyguard and ex-cop named Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio) to discourage eager would-be clients. This world-weary Poirot confines himself to his apartment, having his beloved pastries delivered, locking out the rest of the world. He makes an exception for Ariadne, who has profited from Poirot's adventures by appropriating his cases to use in her own mystery novels. Despite some name and nationality changes, the world appears to know that Poirot has inspired her. She claims that she made him famous, but given the failures of her three most recent efforts alongside Poirot's retirement, it would appear that the opposite is more true. In the interest of gleaning another hit, Ariadne challenges Poirot to spot whether a medium named Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) is truly able to communicate with the late Alicia, or if she is a fraud. Poirot claims that he accompanies Ariadne just for the novelty of the Halloween party for children which is being hosted there, but it's obvious that Poirot longs for the thrill of solving a mystery, even if he's experienced a crisis of faith. Poirot vehemently denies any existence of the supernatural, but this is challenged consistently as the night goes on, forcing him to once again reevaluate many things he considered absolute.
A Haunting in Venice wouldn't be a quintessential Poirot story without some familiar tropes. Although more reduced in volume than in prior entries, this story does have a selection of colorful supporting characters, albeit ones that lean more into the gothic than opulent. In attendance for Rowena's séance is Alicia's battle fatigued former doctor--who carries a torch for Rowena--named Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), and his far too mature for his age son, Leopold (Jude Hill), who seems to take care of his father more than the other way around. Joyce is accompanied by two assistants of Romanian origin: Nicholas (Ali Khan) and Desdemona Holland (Emma Laird), who long to make their journey to America. There is also Rowena's housekeeper, Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), who believes in the authenticity of a curse over the house, attributed to a bleak moment in its history, when some children were left to die by the medical staff and now seek their ghostly revenge, marking their victims with a claw mark on the back of the neck. And surprisingly, Alicia's one-time fiancé, the opinionated and embittered Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), is invited as well, reopening old wounds for Alicia's surviving family and friends. So to avoid spoiling any of the mystery to follow, suffice to say that there is a death and that Poirot leaps into action to identify the killer; but is the killer a ghost? Here and there, Poirot's senses seem to fail him, and he envisions phantoms which he is unsure as to whether they are there or not. Ariadne observes that he has been out of the game for some time, and they're trapped overnight in a house while a violent storm rages outside, preventing anyone from safely leaving. Is Poirot losing his touch? His sanity? Maybe even his soul? Poirot speaks about the soul, that his cases have brought his doubt; but are the mysterious visions he has a sign of something more? A Haunting in Venice delights in toying with its audience's comfort and expectations. One of the more telling ways that the film approaches this is with its unorthodox and disarming cinematography. For instance, when Leopold is first introduced--a child in a suit with glasses, avoiding playing with the other children--it is with a fish-eye lens, suggesting a warped view of reality. Or more interesting is when Poirot is interviewing others, like Rowena. The camera jumps back and forth between their dialogue, but in each shot, they are at the far end of the left and right sides of the frame. Why? I believe this is to put the presumably haunted house obviously in the background, as though it were in the scene, watching the interrogation. A similar approach was used in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining to signify how the house itself seemed to be "aware" of the events unfolding. And, unusual for other Christie adaptations, A Haunting in Venice isn't above the occasional jump scare. While done to death in horror movies, this adds a refreshingly different flavor to Branagh's adaptation, removing the film from being simply consigned to be just another dusty English mystery. All of this--and more--help trim the proverbial fat off of these adaptations, making A Haunting in Venice a fresh and exciting horror tale--a pleasant departure from the status quo which, in turn, reinvigorates the series--just as the call to crack this case rejuvenates Poirot.
Recommended for: Fans of a spooky horror story blended deftly with a Poirot mystery. Branagh has sought with his Poirot movies to bring a new dimension and enliven these tales for contemporary audiences, but has outdone himself with A Haunting in Venice, opting to embrace something far more original while shedding the trappings of any other prior adaptations to be found in his previous two movies.
A Haunting in Venice wouldn't be a quintessential Poirot story without some familiar tropes. Although more reduced in volume than in prior entries, this story does have a selection of colorful supporting characters, albeit ones that lean more into the gothic than opulent. In attendance for Rowena's séance is Alicia's battle fatigued former doctor--who carries a torch for Rowena--named Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), and his far too mature for his age son, Leopold (Jude Hill), who seems to take care of his father more than the other way around. Joyce is accompanied by two assistants of Romanian origin: Nicholas (Ali Khan) and Desdemona Holland (Emma Laird), who long to make their journey to America. There is also Rowena's housekeeper, Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), who believes in the authenticity of a curse over the house, attributed to a bleak moment in its history, when some children were left to die by the medical staff and now seek their ghostly revenge, marking their victims with a claw mark on the back of the neck. And surprisingly, Alicia's one-time fiancé, the opinionated and embittered Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), is invited as well, reopening old wounds for Alicia's surviving family and friends. So to avoid spoiling any of the mystery to follow, suffice to say that there is a death and that Poirot leaps into action to identify the killer; but is the killer a ghost? Here and there, Poirot's senses seem to fail him, and he envisions phantoms which he is unsure as to whether they are there or not. Ariadne observes that he has been out of the game for some time, and they're trapped overnight in a house while a violent storm rages outside, preventing anyone from safely leaving. Is Poirot losing his touch? His sanity? Maybe even his soul? Poirot speaks about the soul, that his cases have brought his doubt; but are the mysterious visions he has a sign of something more? A Haunting in Venice delights in toying with its audience's comfort and expectations. One of the more telling ways that the film approaches this is with its unorthodox and disarming cinematography. For instance, when Leopold is first introduced--a child in a suit with glasses, avoiding playing with the other children--it is with a fish-eye lens, suggesting a warped view of reality. Or more interesting is when Poirot is interviewing others, like Rowena. The camera jumps back and forth between their dialogue, but in each shot, they are at the far end of the left and right sides of the frame. Why? I believe this is to put the presumably haunted house obviously in the background, as though it were in the scene, watching the interrogation. A similar approach was used in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining to signify how the house itself seemed to be "aware" of the events unfolding. And, unusual for other Christie adaptations, A Haunting in Venice isn't above the occasional jump scare. While done to death in horror movies, this adds a refreshingly different flavor to Branagh's adaptation, removing the film from being simply consigned to be just another dusty English mystery. All of this--and more--help trim the proverbial fat off of these adaptations, making A Haunting in Venice a fresh and exciting horror tale--a pleasant departure from the status quo which, in turn, reinvigorates the series--just as the call to crack this case rejuvenates Poirot.
Recommended for: Fans of a spooky horror story blended deftly with a Poirot mystery. Branagh has sought with his Poirot movies to bring a new dimension and enliven these tales for contemporary audiences, but has outdone himself with A Haunting in Venice, opting to embrace something far more original while shedding the trappings of any other prior adaptations to be found in his previous two movies.