When it comes to watching films at the theater, often I will want to see a movie sometimes three, four weeks into their release. The crowds have quieted down, and I can often focus on the movie rather than the person next to me who might be munching on their popcorn a little too loudly or on their cell phone. However, with many films not sticking around as they should, it can often be difficult to make that work. This past Sunday, I was fortunate enough to see A Haunting In Venice, a film that opened in mid-September to honestly rather tepid box office earnings. I had seen Murder on the Orient Express on 4K disc and Death on the Nile with my wife in theaters, so I certainly wanted to see the third film in the Kenneth Branagh’s version of Hercule Poirot. So quality time aside, was this film actually worth our matinee dollar, or was it better spent at the local sandwich shop? Let’s take a look.
The birds are all aflutter this morning. We happen to be in Venice, Italy, 1947, shortly after the Second World War. The date: October 31st, Halloween. The date is however unbeknown to Hercule Poirot (played by Kenneth Branagh), who has recently retired from his detective work. He wakes up to the sound of death, a fairly common occurrence from his former line of work. Instead of investigating dead bodies, he analyzes his plants as well as the mail. At some point, Hercule decides to venture outside where a mass crowd follows him asking for his advice or how to solve their own murder cases. He declines them all, and the people who decide to be a little more aggressive are dealt with by Hercule’s bodyguard (and retired cop) Vitale Portfoglio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio), who is nearby and watching.
After measuring some eggs, Hercule is approached by his bodyguard to tell him that a friend has paid him a visit. But the detective has no friends, and he is at a loss to know who this could be. After some further comments from Vitale, we realize that this friend is the one and only Ariadne Oliver (played by Tina Fey). She is a bestselling novelist who writes mysteries and who in recent years has gotten to know Hercule Poirot and can actually call him a friend. The two sit down to chat about how life has been and how Hercule is coping with retirement. Ariadne remarks that the detective doesn’t even seem like his usual self at all. So much so that she convinces him to go with her to a little party later that evening.
This little party is being held by one Ms. Rowena Drake (played by Kelly Reilly), where they have some fun with the local children. The kids watch a scary puppet show, they are dressed in ghoulish costumes, and they even bob for apples. However, there is a special event this Halloween that occurs after most of the children leave. Rowena’s daughter Alicia committed suicide many years ago with the mark of the “Children’s Vendetta”, and the lady Drake has been overcome with grief. She has enlisted the help of a seer named Joyce Reynolds (played by Michelle Yeoh) who can talk with the dead. Ariadne is not convinced that the seer is the real deal and has tasked Hercule with spotting the con and finding the flaw in the séance.
Mrs. Reynolds soon makes her appearance at the Drake mansion with her assistant in tow, Desdemona Holland (played by Emma Laird). The seer remarks that there are too many spirits in the house and there is much sadness contained within these walls. She is able to locate Alicia’s bedroom without so much as a thought and requests that the séance be held there in order to channel the ghost that lives within. Rowena Drake quickly agrees, and the group assembles in that location. The seer and the assistant lay out their tools to communicate with the dead, which include a very interesting typewriter. Apparently, Mrs. Reynolds takes dictation from the dead and is able to print single letters to determine important information.
Hercule Poirot is unwilling to believe in ghosts and the ability to talk with the dead. He watches carefully and looks for the true reality in the proceedings. However, this isn’t the only mystery that will be solved this night. Before the night is through, he will not only determine whether this seer is really communicating with Alicia’s spirit, but also what really happened to that little girl years ago. Oh, one more thing I failed to mention: someone else just died tragically. The famous detective will have his hands full this Halloween evening, and nobody might get out alive if the mystery isn’t solved quickly.
A Haunting in Venice is very loosely based on the Agatha Christie book, Hallowe’en Party. It is so loosely based, that it is best that the viewer doesn’t even read the book until perhaps after they watch the movie, as it would be a disservice to its entertainment value. That aside, this film does very well given the wobbly adaptation. It is led by quite the cast as mentioned above but also includes Camille Cottin playing Olga Seminoff, Rowena’s housekeeper, Jamie Doran as Dr. Leslie Ferrier, and Kyle Allen as Maxime Gerard among others. They each hold up their parts wonderfully but the scene stealers are the performances of Kenneth Branagh and Tina Fey (the latter comes as a bit of surprise, honestly).
The former two films, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile were straight-up suspenseful detective stories. However this film while still being a detective story is also part supernatural thriller with horror elements. It is a quite fun and exhilarating combination of genres that does service to both for the most part. The film almost entirely takes place in the mansion during a very dark night (so little light that sometimes the only image on the screen is Hercule Poirot’s face surrounded by darkness) and has a few choice jump scares with other horrifying things that challenge the detective’s beliefs.
However, this film is the shortest of the three films and tends to suffer from that point, as it seems that the detective makes some leaps in logic to get to his guilty parties. They all make sense and nothing is truly out of place but at least with the other two films, I always understood how he came to those conclusions. Here, I already know I am going to watch a second or third time, perhaps once it gets to disc (this had better get a 4K release) in order to spot all of the points made by Mr. Poirot. But I will say that this film comes off better than Death on the Nile, since that film had a bad habit of meandering around for a while in plot points before getting to the meat of the picture.
As I look upon the box office for this film, it has amassed 35 million domestically and another 67 million internationally. Probably by the end of its tally, it will be comparable to Death on the Nile but still fall way short when compared to Murder on the Orient Express. I certainly would like to see Kenneth Branagh dust off another Agatha Christie book, perhaps Evil Under the Sun which was originally set in Devon, England and could be easily adapted into, say, Spain (as was done for the 1982 rendition) or another vacation locale. However, I honestly think that may be unlikely, and as the case with Hollywood, this will be eventually remade, and we’ll go down the Murder on the Orient Express train yet again.
Sarcasm aside, A Haunting in Venice is a great film that actually succeeds at combining genres that don’t always go together. I quite enjoyed my time at the theater and will certainly be grabbing the physical release when it hits the shelves. While sometimes it is a bit too dark in the detail sense and has some leaps of logic, it is still worth your movie dollar if you happen to catch it in the last weeks of its theater release. In the wave of a really bad Exorcist sequel and another boring Saw release, this is the film that’s actually perfect for this Halloween season with your spouse or other family members (or even a blind date). Very much recommended. Enjoy.
