'A Haunting in Venice' film review: Supernatural meets murder in Branagh’s latest Poirot case
A delightful overlap of whodunnit and supernatural undertones, 'A Haunting in Venice' (in theaters Sept. 15) is the strongest of Kenneth Branagh’s take on the classic Belgian detective.
In short: Now retired and living a solitary live in Venice, Hercule Poirot (Branagh) attends a seance - but when one of the guests is found dead, the former detective must solve the murder. Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Michelle Yeoh also star.
Unlike the recent 'Murder on the Orient Express' and 'Death on the Nile,' Branagh's latest adaptation isn't merely a straightforward whodunit - it's also steeped in the eeriness of a mansion beleaguered by stories of restless spirits. And with "spooky season" just around the corner, 'Haunting' feels like a fun pivot from summer blockbusters to supernatural stories.
'Haunting' playfully pits the famously logical, left-brained detective against a foe that might actually be supernatural. The story also finds Poirot in a self-imposed isolation from the world. The last two films have made clear that Poirot is a keen detective able to solve the most vexing crime through pure observation and deduction - but, more importantly, the former detective has noted that his abilities feels like more of a curse than a blessing. His career - both in the military and as a policeman - has caused him to feel as if death follows him where ever he goes.
As the flick effortlessly blends mystery and horror genres, 'Haunting' has a lot of fun peppering in jump scares and scary stories into an otherwise straightforward mystery. And it's this delightful blend of ghosts and murder that is this movie's secret sauce. 'Haunting' flirts with horror tropes without leaning too far into tired scary movie gimmicks or making the flick feel like a cheap and forced attempt at horror. It's eerie but not scary. Yet, 'Haunting' also adds in just enough odd and peculiar ghostly elements even Poirot himself cannot easily explain away with logic and reason.
It's odd to say, but the actual murder-mystery aspect of Branagh's take on the iconic character is weirdly the weakest part of these modern Poirot films. If anything, the crimes are essentially little more than just plot contrivances to keep the story moving forward - sometimes feeling as if a mere afterthought. As with the two previous films, Poirot himself is simply working at a hypervigilant level that no audience member can hope to keep up with - reducing his detective revelations to just exposition dumps, wherein Poirot just explains his suspicions (overlays atop some quick cuts from earlier scenes). The best detective films allow their master sleuths to crack the case and note little clues the audience just missed - however Poirot just declares his conclusions, often citing clues that no audience member could hope to have caught.
Despite the actual murder-mystery feeling thin and compulsory, Branagh's direction and central performances are the strongest parts of these new Poirot films. It's just so much fun to once again ride alongside Branagh's take on Poirot - especially in this story where the detective reluctantly takes on a case involving supernatural elements that he absolutely does not entertain or suffer. He's out of his element, both ideologically (as a skeptic facing the ghostly) and professionally (as a man who walked away from crime solving, reluctantly thrown back into solving yet another murder).
Final verdict: Although it's unconventional to recommend a murder mystery where the actual crime elements are pretty weak, 'Haunting' benefits from yet another colorful cast of fun characters and the eerie movie delighting in throwing the intellectual detective into haunted house to solve a crime.
Score: 3.5/5
'A Haunting in Venice' opens in theaters nationwide on Sept.15. This murder mystery has a runtime of 100 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements.
