Sometimes you see a mystery so good it’s scary. Sometimes you find one so dull you’d rather be the victim instead. Kenneth Branagh’s new A Haunting in Venice, his third film based on the popular detective character Hercule Poirot, is mystifyingly both.
Branagh once again directs the film and stars as its title character, and his continued anthology of Agatha Christie’s popular stories is admirable in that the set of movies becomes richer with each new entry.
Unusually, A Haunting in Venice, based on the book Hallowe’en Party, is both the tightest and most cohesive story in any of Branagh’s big screen adaptations and also the least compelling mystery. In other words: this is the best produced film, and yet somehow it’s the most boring of this franchise.
Compared to his first two efforts Murder on the Orient Express and last year’s Death on the Nile, this film is tonally consistent and filled with grounded, textured performances from it’s reliably talented ensemble cast. The first two films were overly glamorized and at times, a bit wacky in their stylization.
Here in Venice, however, the ambience is delicately creepy in a way that’s thrilling without being scary. There are one or two moments of surprise, but don’t go in expecting a horror film. Instead, there’s effective suspense as Poirot tries to solve two separate murder cases in the Palazzo.
The balance between having the story be thrilling without being gross or off-putting to Christie fans has been captured really well. It also draws out the more intimate mystery into a slightly overlong run time, but at least the purpose is clear.
I also really liked that many characters were cast not because of their celebrity status but because of their suitability to the role. One truly inspired choice is recasting Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill as father and son - reuniting them from Branagh’s Oscar-winning 2021 film Belfast.
However skillful the story is and however great the production value, the problem with the plot is how low stakes and unimpactful the murder mystery being examined actually is. There’s almost no threat into whether the mystery is solved or not, and there aren’t that many misleading clues to engage viewers into solving the crime.
Another element that’s distracting is how dark everything looks. 90% of the film is set over the course of one night, meaning there’s low, candlelit lighting on screen for a majority of the film. That makes it surprisingly straining to watch on screen.
While less entertaining, those who enjoying Christie novels might appreciate the attention to detail and slower pacing of Venice as opposed to Branagh’s first two Poirot films. It’s a good Halloween drama, but a less impressive haunting.
A Haunting in Venice
6 out of 10
PG, 1hr 43mins. Mystery Thriller.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan and Michelle Yeoh.
Now Playing at Film.Ca Cinemas, 5 Drive-in, Cineplex Winston Churchill & VIP and Cineplex Oakville & VIP.
