A Haunting in Venice

A Haunting in Venice
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh
Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Agatha Christie is one of the best detective novelists of all time, giving birth to the classic detective Hercule Poirot, and having him solve crimes that would go unsolved by anyone else due to him using psychology and his understanding of human nature to find his killer. He's been played on the big screen numerous times, and most recently by Kenneth Branagh in two films - the legendary "Murder on the Orient Express" and the also well-known "Death on the Nile." Now he returns for his third outing in "A Haunting in Venice," and unlike his other two iterations, this book adaptation was never put on screen before. It also takes a lot of liberties that the others didn't in crafting its own unique story while still holding true to Christie's legendary work.

Happily in retirement, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is approached by his friend and novelist Adriadne Oliver (Tina Fey) with a proposition - attend a Halloween seance with her so he can deduce whether or not the medium is a fraud, because she can't figure it out. He agrees and attends the seance held by former opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) who's trying to contact her dead daughter Alicia (Rowan Robinson). The medium is famed psychic Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), and once the seance begins weird things begin to happen, until a murder occurs. Poirot begins seeing visions of a young girl, and although he doubts the afterlife, he begins to question his own sanity while he tries to deduce who the murderer is - or if it really was the dead killing the living.


The Good:
Kenneth Branagh has a true passion for Poirot, as he not only stars as the detective but directed all three films. He fully embodies the eccentric detective and always looks like he's having a great time doing it. What's better this time around is the horror aspect, as it seems that the house is haunted by vengeful child spirits bent on revenge which weaves itself into the narrative in a natural way where you're left wondering along with Poirot if there's something supernatural really taking place.

Speaking of that, the setting for the film is entirely inspired for a Halloween-style murder mystery. The mansion is massive and sprawling, but also dimly lit and derelict, with paint peeling from the walls and gloomy rooms abounding. It's the perfect setting for a historical horror, and fully dives into its premise instead of shying away from it.

The camerawork Branagh incorporates also makes for a tight, tense thriller. There's fish-eye lens shots, Dutch tilt angles, intense closeups that elicit a sense of claustrophobia, deep-focus compositions and high angle shots, as well as a track camera on Branagh as he traverses the darkened corridors. It's a visual wonder not because of its extremities, but because of its nuance. It doesn't do what "Death on the Nile" did and make it a total CGI background mess, but rather incorporates the natural setting with some CGI help to make it pitch perfect, leaving you believing it really took place in that building.

As always, the supporting characters shine in a film like this. Tina Fey steps out of her normal wholly comedic performances to give a more grounded performance here, even though she still is able to incorporate her snarky sarcastic attitude. Michelle Yeoh eats up the scenery as the flamboyant Joyce Reynolds. "Yellowstone" star Kelly Reilly gives a classic Hollywood feel to Rowena, while Jamie Dornan's PTSD suffering doctor delivers emotional moments that shed light on the struggles people who endured World War II went through after the war. Jude Hill (who starred in Branagh's Oscar-winning "Belfast" along with Dornan) plays a kid who's ten going on fifty with his hefty knowledge of the supernatural and practical, while French actress Camille Cottin revels as the faith-based housemaid, and Kyle Allen plays Alicia's former beau Maxime who seemingly only wants to marry someone with money. All the performances are top notch and really sets the mood perfectly.

The mystery itself is intriguing and suspenseful as with all of Christie's other film adaptations, as you work with Poirot in trying to decipher the clues and figure out the killer before the grand reveal (I guessed it a few scenes before it happened). That's why I love mystery movies, because they don't spoon-feed everything to the viewer but makes them work to understand what's happening. It's a film that requires another viewing to catch everything, and with this being so well-done, you don't mind going for a second ride.


The Bad:
Unlike the other work that Branagh has done with Christie's work, this one feels a bit disconnected. Both "Orient" and "Nile" had a list of characters a mile wide who wanted the victim dead, but the victim here was someone only a few of the suspects wanted dead, which left it a little easier to grasp who was behind it all.

As such, there wasn't much in terms of characterization for them apart from their chosen roles, save for a few of them. It left a couple of them in the background with nothing to do, to the point where a few times I saw them and I was like..."oh yeah, they're there too."


The Summary:
Calling back classic Hollywood filming style with a fun horror-themed murder mystery, "A Haunting in Venice" spooks its own unique charm that'll travel with you after it ends and give you a newfound appreciation for the source material.


The Score: A