A Haunting in Venice

Hercule Poirot took quite a layover from the Murder on the Orient Express to the Death on the Nile. But he's already back to solve A Haunting in Venice, which sees Kenneth Branagh, once again as director and M. Poirot, and writer Michael Green, visualize one of Dame Agatha's last and least-adapted stories, Hallowe'en Party. Let's see how it is.

This time, Poirot has retired to Venice, a few years after World War II, after losing his faith in humanity. But humanity intrudes on Halloween in the form of Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), the crime novelist who credits herself with making Poirot famous. She invites him to a party and seance at the palazzo of the similarly reclusive soprano Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly). Oliver suspects that Drake's medium, Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), is a fraud, and wants Poirot to expose her. Reynolds does give a convincing show as she communes with Drake's deceased daughter Alicia (Rowan Robinson), but Poirot reveals her in no time.

The fake medium then becomes actually dead. M. Poirot's little grey cells go to work as he interrogates the suspects. His investigation is hampered by ghostly hallucinations, supposedly related to the palazzo's gruesome history. As usual, the killer isn't afraid to add to the body count. So, M. Poirot has his work cut out for him.

The film pretty much discards the novel's plot for its own. A few character names are retained, but they're entirely different people in both mediums (Reynolds especially). The new plot runs at a very quick 103 minutes. It's quite creepy, though the seance scene is a bit over the top. The ghastly affair is generally and sometimes exhaustingly deadly serious. How serious? M. Poirot rarely shows off his delightful smugness here. It's quite relieving when he does, especially when he plays off the similarly smug Ariadne.

It's livened up further as Poirot interrogates the suspects, particularly Alicia's ex-fiancée Maxime (Kyle Allen), housekeeper Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), and Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan) & his precocious son Leopold (Jude Hill). It's quite profound as we learn their hidden motives and secrets. The actual killer, twisted as they are, is quite pitiful in their last moments. The most memorable character outside of the suspects is Alessandro Longo (Amir El-Masry), a guy who desperately tries to hire Poirot for a case. It's quite nice when Poirot takes up that case.

It's time I rounded up the usual technical suspects. The palazzo makes for a great haunted house. It's so undeniably gothic you'd be creeped out long before you hear of its gruesome history. John Paul Kelly's production design is complemented by the creepy Halloween costumes by Sammy Sheldon (Reynolds' mask and cloak are particularly striking) and Haris Zambarloukos's claustrophobic cinematography. They're aided aurally by an unnerving sound design and Hildur Guðnadóttir's foreboding score. Lucy Donaldson's best bit of editing is Poirot's dual interrogation of Reynolds' sibling assistants, Desdemona and Nicholas Holland (Emma Laird and Ali Kahn). Let's not forget the ghostly visual effects, especially during the culprit's demise.

All in all, should you partake in Poirot's seance? Yes. A Haunting in Venice's new plot is just as twisted as Christie's finest works. It thankfully doesn't fall victim to a bungled sequel hook, though its overbearing seriousness nearly does it in instead. I'm still ready and able to partake in another Poirot tale should they make one. I'd even go for Christie's Poirot-less The Last Seance. See it on the biggest and loudest screen as soon as possible, even if you have to wait for ... gasp ... home media!