A Haunting in Venice

 

DIRECTED BY:
Kenneth Branagh
STARRING:
Kenneth Branagh
Kelly Reilly
Camille Cottin
Michelle Yeoh
Tina Fey
Jamie Dornan
Jude Hill
Kyle Allen
YEAR OF RELEASE:
2023
PREMISE:
In post-World War 2 Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a séance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

THE NEGATIVES:

• There were plenty of accidents and coincidences in the story, some more lazy than others, such as the timing of Maxime’s injury that eventually leads to the revelation about the honey.

• I found it a little unbelievable that Rowena mistook Poirot as Joyce in the robe and mask, given that he actually has a much taller and wider built.

• In my opinion, the film could have done a better job at building suspense and tension, especially in the lead-up to the killer's identity being revealed.

THE POSITIVES:

The film does a good job at characterizing its two main characters - Poirot and Rowena, through the binding theme of - ‘Fear makes people do terrible things’ , something that is also nicely foreshadowed during the halloween party in the beginning. 

Hence, it makes sense that Kenneth Branagh decided to pivot the tone of the franchise to horror for this installment, since what more appropriate genre could there be for exploring peoples’ fears and their destructive consequence.

For instance, Rowena, who was severely overprotective and possessive towards her daughter Alicia, could not face the fear of being lonely after Alicia planned on marrying someone and leaving the house. Rowena’s fear of “losing” Alicia made her slowly poison her everyday, eventually taking her life. Later, Rowena’s fear of being caught further made her commit TWO more murders, and ultimately led to her own demise.

Even Ariadne Oliver deceives Poirot out of her fear of becoming an irrelevant and belittled writer.

The core of Poirot’s characterization also remains the same, but it is (thankfully) executed in a much more layered manner:

In the beginning of the film he comes across as selfish and self-indulgent, as rather than helping people in need (who queue up outside his luxurious house), he instead chooses to spend his day eating pastries and doing trivial everyday chores. 

However, as the film progresses, we are given several hints that provide ample reasons for his self-imposed exile. We get a sense that he has retired because he has seen too much, and has become weary of the horrible evils of the world (a sentiment that would’ve only been made worse immediately after the Second World War). He is also haunted by the tragedies that have plagued his own life and in many ways feels guilty for the deaths he’s witnessed, believing that he’s cursed to bring death along with him wherever he goes — something that’s very understandable given his profession. 

Therefore, it’s clear that he has quit his job because he is afraid of the terrible tragedy he could witness next, and the death and destruction he could bring to those near him. This fear has caused him to refuse help to the people who require it, and made him essentially live in solitary confinement with only his distant bodyguard as a companion. As Ariadne rightly points out, his indulgence in gardening and enjoying sweets would only ever provide him with happiness, not satisfaction, as the audience’s very introduction to this character is that of him having a nightmare.

However, through the horrors and tragedies that occur in the Palazzo, Poirot realizes that hiding away from one’s fears often does irreparable damage and breeds more evil than it wards off.

The best thing we can do is to make peace with the ghosts of our past, confront our fears, and try to live a fulfilling life while trying to overcome them. Which is what he decides to do in the end, as we see him spring back into action and take on the same case that he had earlier rejected in the beginning of the movie.

Ofcourse, the film also fleshes out the above character arc in tandem with exploring how his objective and logical brain struggles to grapple with the apparent supernatural occurrences. This further makes his character study more interesting and the film more engaging to watch.

Hence, the journey that Poirot’s character goes through in this film felt way more substantial and stronger compared to the one he did in Death on The Nile. 

As if the chilling depravity displayed on screen wasn’t enough to invoke horror, the film also had-: 

Some effective jump-scares, 

Excellently eerie yet beautiful cinematography,

Creepy, dilapidated set designs, and decently spooky background music. 

Strong performances from everyone in the cast, and sharp, witty dialogues further worked as the cherry on top and kept the proceedings interesting while also adding a bit of refreshing humor, making A Haunting In Venice an overall pretty decent murder-mystery-horror flick.

RATING-: 6/10