A Haunting In Venice – Review

Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 43 minutes, Director – Kenneth Branagh

A retired Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is talked into attending a séance, only for it to lead to a murder with historical links for him to solve

A Haunting In Venice is better off for not being scary. While not a full-on horror film as some advertising may make it seem it does have plenty of gothic tonality. It’s a flourish which brings a more relaxed feeling compared to Kenneth Branagh’s previous two middling mysteries as Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective. While Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile are more notable titles, Hallowe’en Party may be less well known. Yet, Branagh, alongside screenwriter Michael Green, doesn’t play this out as something believing the audience are playing along, it’s formed as a drama with a mystery within it.

A retired Poirot (Branagh) is convinced by an old friend (Tina Fey) to attend a séance on Halloween, talked into trying to solve the mystery of how medium Ms Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) is able to pull off her communications with the dead. The sceptical detective (excellent facial hair, and a rather smashing suit, in tow) tags along, however is soon confronted with another mystery when a murder is committed; unveiling a number of historical links and cases for him to solve.

The suspects – including Kelly Reilly and Belfast stars Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill reuniting as a different father and son – are all contained with a stony palazzo shut off from the outside when the canals become too dangerous to travel through. Production designer John Paul Kelly helps to bring about much of the gothic nature with the cold walls which Branagh captures with plenty (perhaps a few too many) of Dutch angles. The overall tone brings a more relaxed feeling to the film compared to the previous entries, which whilst watching I realised how constrained they felt. A Haunting In Venice could easily slip into convention and familiarity. And while it threatens to do so in the second half its style is enough to keep it afloat, alongside the more direct nature of the drama following the narrative of a mystery.

Thanks to the way in which the narrative is followed things go by quickly with a good deal to engage and interest. This could easily be much of the same from Branagh’s take on Poirot, and while some familiar elements are still present the gothic tones help to bring something to the drama that elevates it and makes it more engaging. As the reveal grew closer there was part of me that started trying to guess who the killer was, engaging on a more active level as things began to come together. While initially there may have been questions of ‘another one?’ in regards to this line of mysteries if there’s more genre and tonality at play in future, I may well welcome for Branagh and his mighty moustache.

While there might be some familiarity at play, A Haunting In Venice is held up by its gothic tone and style which helps to elevate the drama at play beyond that of the previous two Branagh Poirot outings.