TL;DR – The stronger of the three so far that explores faith, mystery, and, of course, murder.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

A Haunting in Venice Review –

I love a good murder mystery film, and when you want a good murder mystery, you can’t go past the Queen of Murder Mysteries, Agatha Christie. She has a way with words that have made it through the ages, and the latest interpretation of her work on the big screen has been helmed by Kenneth Branagh with their Murder on the Orient Express in 2017 and Death on the Nile in 2022. Today, we get the third instalment in the series, and what, spoiler alert, is my favourite of the three.

So to set the scene, it is now 1947, and it has been ten years and one world war since we last saw Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) on the Nile. After a lifetime of investigations, Poirot has taken to seclusion and retirement in a house in Venice with only his bodyguard Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio) and the daily pastries boat making their way past his door. It is a life of quiet solitude that is punctured when an old friend/acquaintance/annoyance, Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), arrives at his door with a conundrum. There is a medium, Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), going around claiming that she can talk with the dead, and no matter what Oliver can do, she can’t work out Joyce’s tricks. Joyce is doing a séance for local celebrity Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) to speak with her recently lost daughter Alicia (Rowan Robinson) as it is Hallowe’en. All Poirot has to do is work out her tricks, and surely there won’t be any other deaths …

What do you need for a good murder mystery? Well, you need an investigator that you trust to find your clues. Check. You need a cast of colourful characters to all be possibly suspicious to be both the murderer/s and/or red hearing/s. Check. You need a location that supports the narrative through its design and location. Check. You need some contrivance that keeps everyone together and the police at bay. Check. Oh, and you also need a murder most foul. A Haunting in Venice ticks all those boxes and more.    

This is a slightly darker film tone-wise than the other films in this series, as we dabble a bit in the supernatural realm and explore personal faith or the lack of it. We have an old building in Venice with a dark past that has brought many of its owners to ruins. We have a storm that traps everyone inside, cuts off the phones, and provides more than a little atmosphere to the situation. These framing devices create a claustrophobic environment even before the séance, even more so when even Poirot is unsure if she is 100% a fraud. The séance scene, with its aggressive typewriter, is very effective in setting a mood that permeates the rest of the film.

Films like this can live and die on their casting, and everyone here is giving their A-Game. I was concerned about Tina Fey’s casting, but she perfectly fits into that old-timey twang that becomes a wrecking ball in Poirot’s life. Michelle Yeoh gives total commitment no matter the role, and here, she must get a lot of the vibe and clunky exposition done, and it works. You feel the pain in the father/son relationship between Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill. It is a film awash with tragedy, and everyone is here to play their part. Of course, we must give Kenneth Branagh full credit because he is an actor who can play the smartest person in the room, without being unpleasant. There is compassion, pain from WW2 and WW1 barely holding back, sympathy, and anger, all in equal measures.

The film excellently blends the Venice location shots with the house stage, creating an almost seamless world. The set designers did a lot of work to make that house feel both lived in but also abandoned. A house with a character that you can feel its age and its many lives. They also experiment with some more handheld shots that we have seen in this series before, and they help with the off-putting mood the film is creating. I was compelled by the story the whole way through, but this is one of the films where I didn’t know anything about the work it was adapting, so if you know the twists and turns, I am not sure it will land as well for you.

In the end, do we recommend A Haunting in Venice? Yes, I would. I was captivated by the story and compelled to watch the entire unfolding calamity. The actors are here for it, the setting works, and the mystery had me wondering. If you liked A Haunting in Venice, we would recommend to you The Dry.       

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched A Haunting in Venice?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of A Haunting in Venice
Directed by – Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay by – Michael Green
Based on – Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
Music by – Hildur Guðnadóttir
Cinematography by – Haris Zambarloukos
Edited by – Lucy Donaldson
Production/Distribution Companies – Kinberg Genre, The Mark Gordon Company, TSG Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Agatha Christie Limited & 20^th Century Pictures
Starring – Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio & Michelle Yeoh with Amir El-Masry, David Menkin, Rowan Robinson & Esther Rae Tillotson
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13