Movie Review - A Haunting in Venice

 

It was only a year ago that we got the second of these Agatha Christie films, and now we have the third one. Based on one of her lesser known books, it comes out at around the right time of the year. Not quite October, but close enough for us to at least consider watching films like this. It's been described as a supernatural thriller than horror, and honestly, I kind of agree with that. Not sure what to be expecting in this one, so let's take a look:

Having lost faith in humanity and God, Hercule Poirot (reprised by Kenneth Branagh who also returns as director) is once again living in retirement. This time in post-war Venice, where he has a bodyguard (played by Riccardo Scamarcio). On one Halloween, Poirot is invited to attend a séance by novelist Ariadne Oliver (played by Tina Fey) at a palazzo to help unmask a medium called Joyce Reynolds (played by Michelle Yeoh) as a fraud. Poirot reluctantly tags along, but soon becomes an investigator once more when someone attempts to kill him in the palazzo, and then someone kills Reynolds. Mysteries will be solved, the supernatural may be called in to help, and it gets a little spooky this time around.

I find it interesting that with every film we get in this series of films, it's usually released at around the time of year that it would be set. For Murder on the Orient Express, it was released in the winter and for last year's Death on the Nile, it was released during the summer, and it seems that this film is continuing that trend. As for the actual film itself, I would say It's so far, the best of the films. It's unsettling, has a few jumpscares and everyone acts out their parts well. I feel it's a pretty clear indication that Branagh wanted to up his game with the films going forward, and he did well with adapting one of the lesser known Poirot stories and got it released close enough to Halloween. So yeah it's worth, at least one watch, if anything. 7/10