A Haunting in Venice is the third of a series of Agatha Christie adaptations directed by Kenneth Branagh, following his 2017 Murder on the Orient Express and 2022 Death on the Nile. With screenplay by Michael Green and Branagh reprising his role as Hercule Poirot, the film was released in the U.K. and the United States on 15 Sep 2023.
Synopsis[]
The film is only loosely based on Agatha Christie's novel Hallowe'en Party, with its setting changed to post-World War II Venice. In the film, Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is living in self-imposed retirement in Venice. He reluctantly attends a séance and is drawn into an investigation when one of the guests is murdered.
Comparison with original novel[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
The original novel "Hallowe'en Party" was published in November/December 1969, so the post-war period is correct, but decade is different and the location of the novel was the English countryside, not Venice, Italy. Both the movie and the novel are "closed house mysteries" in that it is clear that the murderer must be one of the "party guests" in the house. Both Poirot and Ariadne Oliver appear in the novel and the movie, but other than that, the characters are all different. Also, the police inspectors, etc who appear in the novel do not appear in the movie.
In terms of plot, there has been a murder: in the movie, the murder follows a seance while in the novel, a girl attending a Halloween party, Joyce, had been telling everyone that she had once seen a murder, but because she was somewhat of a braggart, perhaps even a liar, no one believes her. During the party, there is a bobbing for apples scene. Spoiler: Joyce is later found dead in the tub of water used for the apple bobbing. In the main, the movie uses a supernatural element which is absent in the novel. In the movie, the woman who conducts the seance is found murdered later. In the movie, Poirot solves the murder in one night while a storm rages outside threatening the party with drowning; while in the novel, Poirot takes many days to solve Joyce's murder, working with the police, interviewing family members, the school headmistress, etc.
Spoiler Alert: In Christie's stories, Mrs Oliver is a funny, eccentric mystery author, fond of apples, and a bit scatterbrained. In this movie, she has none of those qualities except she is an authoress. By movie's end, she appears to be seeking revenge against Poirot, something Christie's character would never do.
Overall, A Haunting in Venice may be an entertaining movie, particularly for those who admire "tales of the crypt" or spooky Halloween type films, but this movie has little to do with Agatha Christie's characters or plots, although Poirot does his usual outstanding job solving a difficult murder in a closed house.
Cast[]
- Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot
- Dylan Corbett-Bader as Baker (as a different name)
- Amir El-Masry as Alessandro Longo
- Riccardo Scamarcio as Vitale Portfoglio - Poirot's bodyguard
- Fernando Piloni as Vincenzo Di Stefano
- Lorenzo Acquaviva as Grocer
- Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver
- David Menkin as Puppet Show MC
- Camille Cottin as Olga Seminoff
- Kelly Reilly as Rowena Drake
- Jude Hill as Leopold Ferrier
- Yaw Nimako-Asamoah as Child (Cookie Gobbler)
- Jamie Dornan as Dr. Leslie Ferrier
- Clara Duczmal as Child (Crying Girl)
- Rowan Robinson as Alicia Drake
- Michelle Yeoh as Ms Reynolds
- Emma Laird as Desdemona Holland
- Stella Harris as Child (Staircase 1)
- Emilio Villa-Muhammad as Child (Staircase 2)
- Vanessa Ifediora as Sister Maria Felicitas
- Kyle Allen as Maxime Gerard
- Ali Khan as Nicholas Holland
- Esther Rae Tillotson as Alicia Drake (Young)
- Winnie Soldi as Police Captain
- Richard Price as Gondoliero (uncredited)
- Harry - Alicia's pet cockatoo
Research notes[]
- Ariadne Oliver mentions that she has known him since "The Canning Street Municipal Baths Murder". At that time she had bullied her way into observing him as he investigated the case. This case is also mentioned in the original novel, except that in that instance, Poirot did not investigate the case but merely discussed it with his friend Solomon Levy.