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In Theaters Now
- 2023
- PG-13
- Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- 1 h 43 m
- 2023
- PG-13
- Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- 1 h 43 m
Summary In post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), now retired and living in self-imposed exile, reluctantly attends a seance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the former detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets. Based upon the novel Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie...
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
Written By: Michael Green, Agatha Christie
In Theaters Now
- 2023
- PG-13
- Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- 1 h 43 m
- 2023
- PG-13
- Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- 1 h 43 m
A Haunting in Venice
63
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary In post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), now retired and living in self-imposed exile, reluctantly attends a seance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the former detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets. Based upon the novel Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie...
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
Written By: Michael Green, Agatha Christie
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 51 Critic Reviews
63
63% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
35% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 51 Critic Reviews
63
63% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
35% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
A Haunting in Venice is no downer. The script by Michael Green (“Logan,” “Blade Runner 2049”), who also wrote the first two Branagh Poirots, is at times ingenious, and he wrote a great part for Fey. As the mystery novelist Ariadne, a stand-in for Christie, she brings nice comic touches to a performance that threatens to steal the movie.
A confection that is equal parts murder mystery, old-fashioned ghost story and supernatural thriller, the third instalment of Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series proves to be the most enjoyable.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 70 User Ratings
7.1
67% Positive
47 Ratings
47 Ratings
27% Mixed
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
6% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 70 User Ratings
7.1
67% Positive
47 Ratings
47 Ratings
27% Mixed
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
6% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
A wonderful film in every respect. An interesting story in a great singular setting for a film that doesn't need to try too hard like too many movies these days that are filmed in a bunch of exotic locations or center on a lot of fancy special effects or car chases. A great story doesn't need all of that. This film has a plot that is interesting and captivating but not unnecessarily complex or overly long and in all respects it was very well done. Perfect.
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Unlike the other two, I was never bored with this movie. The fact that the murder is actually foreshadowed and can be figured out if you're paying enough attention is what makes it.
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Amidst all this, Venice is also just a heck of a lot of fun, from its eerie Venetian mask costumes to the intriguing ways in which its central mysteries unfold. With heaps of atmosphere and a general spookiness, it's the perfect choice for a Halloween party.
It’s all fairly unsubtle, and not infrequently flat-out silly, but I enjoyed its modest charms, especially in contrast to the bombast of Branagh’s previous Poirot pictures.
It’s enjoyable, if familiar.
Why Branagh and the screenwriter, Michael Green (he also did the two earlier Poirot adaptations), would want to bring actual, real-life horror into a mystery movie masquerading as a horror movie is a mystery beyond the powers of even Poirot to solve.
Even before the murderer is revealed, you’ll recognize the method in which the movie dispatches its victims: They, like us, were probably bored to death.
IN A NUTSHELL:
I love Sir Kenneth Branagh both in front of a behind the camera. He directs the movie, as well as stars in it, featuring that multi-layered mustache. He also wears the hat of a producer, along with Ridley Scott, Judy Hofflund, and Simon Kinberg.
Supposedly, the movie is based on the novel “Hallowe’en Party” by Dame Agatha Christie published in 1969.
While the whodunnit book takes place in England, the movie’s location is Venice, Italy. Surprisingly, this is the very first time a movie adaptation has been made about the book!
THINGS I LIKED:
The cast is fantastic and includes Sir Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Camille Cottin, Riccardo Scamarcio, Kelly Reilly, Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Rowan Robinson, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Laird, Kyle Allen, and Ali Khan. Everyone does an excellent job.
Perfectly timed for the Halloween season in the USA, the movie offers an extremely creepy setting with plenty of jumps and scares. I got to see this in the theater on opening night. While walking down the hallways in the large theater, I saw a TON of movie posters for creepy movies coming out in time for Halloween. One thing I really liked about this film is that it doesn’t have all of the violence, blood, and gore of some of the upcoming scary movies.
In order to get genuine scares out of the actors, the director worked with the technical department to cause things to happen without their knowing beforehand. Actor Kelly Reilly admitted that all of the scary moments in the seance scene scared the “bejesus” out of her.
We get to see some absolutely gorgeous images of Venice. I’ve been there twice and love its look and feel. It’s such a unique location, allowing for the cinematographer, Haris Zambarloukos, to make perfect postcard shots. The bird’s-eye view of the entire city at the end of the movie is stunning, and the palazzo’s interior makes for the perfect haunted house.
Despite its very dark setting and story, there is still a lot of clever humor to be had.
Each scene was so carefully crafted that you could see that much attention to detail was given by the director. I always admire that in a director
.A clever element of this dark addition to the Hercule Poirot franchise is that he is very much rattled by what he experiences. He second-guesses himself and is faced with questions about God, Satan, and the afterlife.
The clues are there but it’s easy to miss them when so many other things are happening around the characters. I didn’t figure out who the murderer was at all. I love how Hercule Poirot is able to catch the little details in order to solve the crime.
The movie poster is unsettling.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie’s book, you might be a little disappointed because the film only loosely follows that story. In good news, many viewers are saying the movie is actually better than the book!
Many scenes are visually dark, so try to watch this on the biggest screen you can.
I like Tina Fey in comedy but wasn’t sure she was perfectly cast in this role.
I wish I had been able to turn on subtitles in the theater. Some of the accents made it difficult to understand what everyone was saying.
Act 3 wraps up very quickly and suddenly.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
This will be way too scary for many kids, especially young ones.
We see some dead bodies.
There is some blood.
We hear and see ghosts.
A seance is held and many scary things happen.
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Não gostei muito. Tem tanto jump scare barulhento que chega a irritar, dando até uma sensação de bagunça e confusão. Há uma tentativa de emular um clima de terror e assombração, mas de forma extremamente exagerada. Achei os personagens bem desinteressantes. Consegui deduzir o culpado final por eliminação, mas a explicação pra ligar os pontos foi bem inusitada.
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Kenneth Branagh returns to direct for the third time in the role of Hercules Poirot in an unusual gothic chamber mystery, this time only loosely inspired by “Hallowe'en Party”, Agatha Christie's 1969 novel, and sets the new mystery-crime no longer in the English countryside but in a foggy Venice after the Second World War, constantly surrounded by dark and disturbing atmospheres. The director-actor decides to distance himself greatly from the original text while keeping the crucial points fixed; to rewrite Agatha Christie's Poirot in a personal key; to renew the style, tones and register adopted by previous films; and to veer towards the horror-tinged thriller, introducing a supernatural dimension that puts (in crisis) the investigator's logical-rational thinking and skepticism when faced with the spiritual sphere, death and faith in the afterlife. This time the real investigative investigation therefore seems to be the one to be carried out in the mind of the protagonist, in his fears and fragility, especially in the face of esoteric/occult events to which he is unable to give a logical explanation, even before that which takes place regarding the case to be solved. Rhythm, atmosphere, twists and tension make this latest film enjoyable, but not fully successful. Michael Green's script sometimes seems mechanical and fails to blend the thriller genre with the horror one well; the cast remains on the sidelines; the characters are rather sketchy and stereotyped; the topic (as well as the entire investigation) appears not very in-depth and attractive; and the dramatic potential of some sequences as well as Christie's caustic humor are not exploited or expressed properly. Even many details of the entire formal apparatus at times seem emptied of their strength and in the end reveal fluctuating results in terms of effectiveness. But overall the work manages to entertain the spectator who, without many pretensions, is (well) disposed to watching it. Despite alternating between strengths and weaknesses, the film still works in its entirety: the positive aspect is that it is quite accurate, fluid and intriguing; the staging with an eye towards new experimental perspectives; an aesthetic (see the excellent direction, scenography and photography) with suggestive effects in favoring a sense of anguish, bewilderment and destabilization for the protagonist and the audience. These aspects which, albeit with difficulty, at least manage to compensate for the limits and imperfections of the film, and that is in particular the many narrative and visual solutions which are a little more banal, predictable and vacuous, less elaborate or interesting and above all less evocative than to the previous chapters. In conclusion, “A Haunting in Venice” will not be the most exciting episode of Hercule Poirot that has been seen at the cinema, but it is the freest on a creative level and very inspired on an aesthetic level. Rating: 6.50
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The one thing a good whodunnit should not do is put its audience to sleep. Unfortunately, this latest cinematic adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel fails miserably on this score. Director Kenneth Branagh’s third outing as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is a protracted snooze that leaves viewers caring little about the characters and even less about the story in which they’re trapped. When the famed detective (Branagh) – now in retirement in Venice – is called upon by a friend and author of murder mysteries (Tina Fey) to help her verify or discredit the psychic powers of a medium (Michelle Yeoh) at a séance at an allegedly haunted Venetian palazzo, he’s drawn into yet another of his famous investigations. The problem here is that what should be an engaging story is interminably dull, one that, regrettably, prompts frequent checking of one’s watch. Moreover, virtually the entire film is shot with excessively dark camera work (so much for showing off the glories of Venice). And then there are the performances, which feature good turns by Yeoh and Jude Hill but a positively wooden portrayal by Branagh (compared to his previous depictions of the protagonist) and an absolutely dreadful performance by a woefully miscast Fey. To its credit, like its recent predecessors, the production values of this Christie offering are top shelf, but that’s about all this release has going for it, a far cry from the much better overall work found in “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) and “Death on the Nile” (2023). Indeed, even fans of the famed mystery writer are likely to find “A Haunting in Venice” tiresome and tedious. Pack a lunch for this one.
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Production Company
20th Century Studios,
Kinberg Genre,
Scott Free Productions,
TSG Entertainment,
The Mark Gordon Company
Release Date Sep 15, 2023
Duration 1 h 43 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Death is just the beginning
