A Haunting in Venice is Simple, Atmospheric Fun
A Haunting in Venice marks Kenneth Branagh’s third entry in his series based on Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot’s mysteries. As with Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile before it, Branagh’s Poirot stumbles into a mysterious death and is faced with a cast of characters that range from charming to insidious.
This murder, however, brings some mystic layers. Poirot’s Venetian retirement is interrupted by an old friend and mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), who invites him to participate in a séance. The event is to take place at a supposedly haunted palazzo owned by Kelly Reilly’s Rowena Drake, a former opera singer whose life is languishing in this deteriorating home after the death of her daughter, Alicia. Drake has hired renowned medium Ms. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) to conduct the séance. In a disastrous turn of events, the séance is a bit too effective—not only are the dead contacted, but they are joined by some new company.
Others fill out the menagerie: Alicia’s formerly betrothed Maxime (Kyle Allen); the family physician, Dr. Ferrier (Jamie Dornan); his precociously creepy son, Leopold (Jude Hill); housekeeper Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin); Ms. Reynolds’ assistants, Nicholas and Desdemona (Ali Khan and Emma Laird, respectively); and Poirot’s security, Portfolio (Riccardo Scamarcio).
Branagh takes a bit more leeway with the story this time through. A Haunting in Venice is based on Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party. Notably, the initial victim in the novel is a thirteen year old girl, whose attempt to bob for apples ends in a drowning. The film pays nod to the novel’s setup by kicking off the fun with a kids Halloween party, but Branagh may have calculated that focusing on a child’s death would bitter the fun.
Branagh’s direction is best on display in the images he puts to screen. Branagh and his cinematographer, Haris Zambarloukos, make use of a range of techniques to intrigue. From the start, A Haunting in Venice is an atmospheric feast. A dark film filled with lush lighting. Fog lingers over the black canals, the recognizable architecture is twisted by tilts and odd angles. And most uncanny is simply how empty Venice is here. In its use of the city, A Haunting in Venice can’t help but evoke Don’t Look Now. While it’s not the oneiric masterpiece that Nicolas Roeg’s film is, it’s not trying to compete.
A Haunting in Venice knows what it is: “small beer,” to use its own parlance. It’s apropos as an analogy—refreshing with just enough flavor and substance to make the experience enjoyable. The dialogue is chewy, the better to let its cast revel in sinking their teeth in. Yeoh, Cottin, and Fey are particularly fun leaning in to their characters’ sensibilities (and absurdities).
In truth, the paranormal theatrics are little more than mere parlor game, albeit one fitting for October. It distracts from the slight flimsiness of this mystery, so that A Haunting feels like a mere Halloween special. All that to say, it’s still a good bit of fun if you’re into Christie or murder mysteries in general.
At one point in the film, a character calls Poirot “a speaker for the dead.” It is, perhaps, an insight into the detective’s impulse toward solving crimes; but the description equally applies to the director, himself. Branagh keeps resurrecting these tales from Christie, keeps retelling them to a new generation. And he’s capable of enough verve and innovation to make them worthwhile. It may be small beer, but sometimes that’s what you crave.
